Gorizia: A Habsburg garden city on the border, where Italy meets Slovenia

Gorizia has always lived on the border between the Latin, Slavic and Germanic worlds. Its mild climate and gardens made it a favourite of the Habsburg nobility, and in 2025 it shared the title of European Capital of Culture with Nova Gorica, its Slovenian twin across the line.

The story

The medieval castle crowns the hill above Borgo Castello, the oldest quarter. From its walls the view sweeps from the Julian Alps to the Collio hills and the valley of the Isonzo.

Below unfolds the city of the Counts of Gorizia and later of the Habsburgs: Piazza della Vittoria with the Baroque church of Sant'Ignazio, elegant palaces and villas, and the parks of residences such as Palazzo Coronini Cronberg.

For decades after the Second World War a border cut the city in two. In Piazza della Transalpina a line in the paving now marks where it ran: today you can stand with one foot in Italy and the other in Slovenia.

In pictures

Gorizia Castle's medieval walls rising above autumn trees

Sant'Ignazio church and colourful façades on Piazza della Vittoria, Gorizia

Yellow Palazzo Coronini Cronberg with its loggia and palm trees, Gorizia

Stone courtyard with an old well inside Gorizia Castle

View from the castle over Sant'Ignazio's domed towers and green hills

What we'll see

The castle and Borgo CastelloThe medieval fortress and the oldest quarter, with views to the Alps and the Collio.
Piazza della VittoriaThe city's main square, dominated by the Baroque church of Sant'Ignazio.
Piazza della TransalpinaThe square shared by two countries, where the border line is set into the paving.
Palaces and gardensThe Habsburg-era villas and parks that gave Gorizia its gentle elegance.

Optional extensions

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Nova Gorica railway station facing the border mosaic on Transalpina Square

Full day

Gorizia + Nova Gorica

Cross the border on foot from Piazza della Transalpina into Nova Gorica, the modernist town built after 1947, and discover how two cities have grown back together. On request we visit the Kostanjevica monastery, where Charles X, the last Bourbon king of France, is buried.

A taste of Gorizia

Gorizia's kitchen blends Italian, Slovenian and Austrian traditions: try the Rosa di Gorizia, a prized red radicchio shaped like a rose, plum gnocchi and strudel, with a glass of wine from the nearby Collio.