Gorizia
[key], Ger. Görz (gûrts), city, capital of
Gorizia prov., Friuli–Venezia Giulia, NE Italy, on the Isonzo River
and on the Slovenian border. It is an industrial, commercial, transport, and
tourist center. Manufactures include textiles, leather goods, processed
food, and machines. Located in the historic region of Friuli, Gorizia was the seat of a duchy
from c.1000 to 1500. It passed to the Hapsburgs in 1508 but preserved a
remarkable autonomy until the 18th cent. From 1815 to 1918 the Austrian
crown land of Görz-Gradisca (Slovenian Gorica) was
included in Küstenland prov. In World War I, Gorizia and the
surrounding area in the Karst were the scene of bloody battles (see
Isonzo). The
Italians took Gorizia in 1916, evacuated it in 1917, and recovered it in
1918. Gorizia was excepted from the cession in 1947 of E Friuli to
Yugoslavia; on the eastern limit of the Italian city is the new Slovenian
community of Nova Gorica. Gorizia has a 16th-century fortress, a Gothic
cathedral (14th cent., rebuilt 17th cent.), and the Church of St. Ignatius
(1680–1725).
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