Nova Gorica
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Nova Gorica
| Nova Gorica | |
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| — Town and Municipality — | |
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 Nova Gorica
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| Coordinates: 45°58′N 13°39′E / 45.967°N 13.65°ECoordinates: 45°58′N 13°39′E / 45.967°N 13.65°E | |
| Country |  Slovenia |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Matej Arčon (LDS) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 309.0 km2 (119.3 sq mi) |
| Population (2002)[1] | |
| • Total | 32,763 |
| • Density | 110/km2 (270/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+01) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+02) |
| Website | www.nova-gorica.si |
Nova Gorica (pronounced [ˈnɔʋa ɡɔˈɾitsa]; population: 13,852 (town); 21,082 (incl. suburbs); 31,000 (municipality)) [2] is a town and a municipality in western Slovenia, on the border with Italy. Nova Gorica is a new town, built after 1948 when the Paris Peace Treaty established a new border between Yugoslavia and Italy, leaving nearby Gorizia outside the borders of Yugoslavia, thus cutting off the Soča Valley, Vipava Valley, and the northwestern Karst Plateau from their traditional regional centre. Nova Gorica is the principal urban centre of the traditional region of Goriška in the Slovenian Littoral.[3]
Since May 2011, Nova Gorica has been joined together with Gorizia and Šempeter-Vrtojba in a common trans-border metropolitan zone, administered by a joint administration board.[4]
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The name
The name Nova Gorica literally means 'New Gorizia'. However, most people from the area simply call the town Gorica (i.e., 'Gorizia'), while they refer to the neighboring Italian town as "Old Gorizia" (Slovene: stara Gorica). This use is also reflected in Slovenian license plates (GO for Gorica), the name of the local association football club ND Gorica, and the local student association (Klub goriških študentov 'the Gorica Student Club').
The word gorica is a diminutive form of the Slovene gora 'hill'.
Culture and education
Nova Gorica hosts one of the four national theatres in Slovenia. The Museum of Goriška is also located in the town's Kromberk district, hosted in the Kromberk Castle.
The University of Nova Gorica is located in the suburb of Rožna Dolina. The Nova Gorica Grammar School, located in the city centre, is one of the most renowned high schools in Slovenia.
Kostanjevica Hill
See also: Kostanjevica Monastery
To the south of the town stands Kostanjevica Hill, home to the Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady and a 17th-century Franciscan monastery with rich treasures from the past.[5] The last members of the Bourbons, the French royal family, are buried in a crypt beneath the church (Charles X himself, and members of his family and entourage including his son Louis-Antoine de France, and his grandson Henri d'Artois, nephew of Louis (neither Louis-Antoine nor Henri ever reigned as kings)). He fled France following the revolution in 1830, finding refuge in Gorizia, and eventually eternal peace. Also buried there is Pierre Louis Jean Casimir, a Bourbon nobleman who also died in exile (in 1839).[6]
Sveta Gora
Opposite Kostanjevica Hill, north of the town is Sveta Gora (Holy Mountain), a peak of 682 m that has attracted pilgrims for 450 years. The view from there is exceptional, and on a clear day visitors can see as far as Istria, Venice, the Dolomites, and the Kamnik and Julian Alps. The mountain top is home to a magnificent basilica, where concerts are occasionally held, a Franciscan monastery, and a museum of the Battles of the Isonzo.
Politics
The municipality of Nova Gorica is governed by a mayor, elected every 4 years by popular vote, and a municipal council of 32 members. Both in local and national elections, Nova Gorica has been considered an electoral stronghold of the left, in particular of the Social Democrats. Since the early 1990s, the local political influence has been largely contended between the Social Democrats and the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia, which are both considered left wing parties. In the national elections, conservative parties (especially the Slovenian Democratic Party) tend to receive better results than in local elections, although remaining far behind the left wing forces. The Nova Gorica electoral district is the home district of the former Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor.
Notable residents
- Matej Bor, poet
- Diego de Brea, theatre director
- Zvonko Fišer, State General Prosecutor of Slovenia
- Jure Franko, ski champion
- Aleš Kokot, football player
- Jimmy Mac Hayne, musician
- Branko Marušič, historian
- Tomaž Marušič, politician, former Minister of Justice of Slovenia
- Iztok Mlakar, singer-songwriter
- Borut Pahor, politician, Prime Minister of Slovenia
- Dušan Pirjevec Ahac, philosopher and literary critic
- Senko Pličanič, lawyer and politician, Minister of Justice of Slovenia
- Vojteh Ravnikar, architect
- Uroš Seljak, physicist, cosmologist
- Jani Šturm, football player
- Igor Vidmar, rock musician
- Danilo Zavrtanik, physicist and academic scholar
- Samuel Žbogar, politician and diplomat, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Nova Gorica is twinned with:
See also
References
- ^ Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, census of 2002
- ^ Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
- ^ Nova Gorica municipal site
- ^ http://ilpiccolo.gelocal.it/cronaca/2011/05/12/news/patto-gorizia-nova-gorica-c-e-la-firma-1.56599
- ^ Kostanjevica Monastery site
- ^ Slovenian Tourist Board site
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nova Gorica municipality |
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