Outdoor Museum Mengore

Easy | 2–3 hrs

A circular path through the outdoor museum Mengore runs past well-preserved and partly cleaned and restored remains of the first Austro-Hungarian line of defence. It runs past trenches, caves, memorial tablets, remains of cabins’ stone walls, a water reservoir and the monument of the onetime Austro-Hungarian military cemetery. On the top of Mengore hill, from where a splendid view of the Soča valley opens, stands a church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which was practically levelled during the fights along the Soča (Isonzo). According to the oral tradition, the hill served as the muster area of the leaders of the Tolmin peasant uprising in 1713.
At the onset of fights on the Isonzo Front, the Austro-Hungarian troops fortified the majority of their positions of defence on the left bank of the Soča. But on the right bank they only fortified the positions before Gorizia/Gorica, and near Tolmin and Most na Soči, in the so-called Tolmin bridgehead. Mengore hill, together with the two neighbouring hills, Cvetje (588 m) and Bučenica (510 m), was the core of the defence of this bridgehead. North of it, on the left bank of the Soča, the key role in its defence was played by Mt. Mrzli vrh and Mt. Vodel. The entire area was strongly fortified with numerous trenches and caves. The Austrians began to fortify Mengore hill already before the outbreak of the war. Throughout the 29 months of the war, the Austro-Hungarian positions on Mengore hill were exposed to constant shelling by the Italian artillery from higher elevations. If the Italian Army had managed to break through the Tolmin bridgehead, the way would have been opened for them to the inland of the monarchy. Despite heavy losses the Austro-Hungarian defence endured all until the end of the warfare along the Soča. In the decisive Twelfth Isonzo Battle it was exactly the area of the Tolmin bridgehead that played one of the key roles. The breakthrough of the united Austro-Hungarian-German armies took place in a coordinated way on both the Tolmin and the Bovec areas. The German troops of the 12^th Schleswig Division and the German Alpine Corps advanced from the Tomin bridgehead up the slopes of the Kolovrat range and through the Soča valley towards Kobarid. Their right wing was supported by the Austro-Hungarian troops that broke into the valley from Mt. Mrzli vrh and the Krn range.

Boštjan Burger 360° Surround Photography

Photos: (1) Mitja Sodja, TIC Kanal; (2) Matevž Lenarčič, Fundacija Poti miru; (3–5) Tamino Petelinšek, Fundacija Poti miru; (6) Archive of Samo Bone

Guided Tour Programme:

Outdoor Museum Mengore – The Guard of the Tolmin Bridgehead