The Collio hills and the Great War.

Arrival at the hotel check-in with a welcome cocktail, a guide will welcome you and will be happy to take you to see a part of the city. After a short walk you will reach the entrance to the castle of Gorizia, a 1300s manor that has been renovated several times due to war conflicts; you will take an interactive guided tour to learn about the particularities of the manor; followed by a visit to the provincial museums located a few hundred meters away: you will see three museums in one, where you can visit the museum of the great war, the museum of fashion and applied arts and an archaeological collection. You will continue for a walk through the historic center of Gorizia, crossing the streets that were once thriving with shops but which still give a particular atmosphere today, you will arrive in Piazza Vittoria to admire, beyond the square, the majestic Baroque church of Sant’Ignazio. Return to the hotel and after a well-deserved relaxation in the vicinity of the chosen accommodation, in a highly historical atmosphere under the arcades, you can then enjoy a particularly suggestive dinner in a cozy sitting area.

09.30 am after breakfast, a tour guide will welcome you at the exit of the hotel to head to the epicenter of the eastern front of the First World War. A visit that will see you walk through the trenches, walkways and gunboats. A surreal atmosphere if you imagine the state of mind of the fighters on the 1914-1918 front (Gorizia entered the war a year earlier than Italy). A walk inside the trenches following the Brestovec path to get to the gunboats placed as a sentry on the karst plateau that leads to the sea, by reading the writings, texts and stories you can already imagine what life in the trenches could be like. The visit will continue by going to the multimedia museum of San Michele where you will live an experience in some ways very strong, witnessing in a virtual reality 12 passages of life at the front, including the first attack in world history using nerve gas. An indelible and inevitable experience to give you full awareness of what it meant to participate in the First World War. You will then continue going to visit the second gunboats built and placed to defend the front line and then continue along a path that will take you above the gunboats. A place sadly famous for the arduous battles and sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of Austrian and Hungarian Italian soldiers in particular. Going down the valley a few kilometers away, a private museum will be opened, created, guarded and managed by historical enthusiasts who have found war relics over the course of decades. Inside you can see collections of weapons, military objects and above all many historical anecdotes. Around 1.30 pm you will have lunch in an “osmiza” (typical Karst trattoria) tasting typical dishes of the area
In the afternoon the visit will resume by going to visit the Redipuglia shrine built on Mount Sei Busi, a bitterly contested peak, in which one hundred thousand soldiers are buried. It is the largest monument dedicated to the fallen of the First World War. An imposing monument built in the Fascist period to commemorate the sacrifice of a people who gave their lives for the love of their homeland; the grandeur also to make us think of what a great tragedy was the conflict of the First World War. You will then continue going in front of the there will be a walk in the park of remembrance in which cannons are exhibited and not only to end at the war museum set up on the slopes of this hill. We will end the day returning to Gorizia by visiting the Conte Coronini Cronberg Foundation, a very special museum that will help us immerse ourselves in the city that was called under the Habsburg Empire, the Austrian Nice. A local guide will be happy to take us through the halls rich in history of ceramics and works of art of particular objects, on a journey through time.
Return to the hotel and after a well-deserved relaxation you will be served in a very special place a unique dinner called “At the table with the Count”. It will be a dinner closely linked to what was visited at the Conte Coronini Cronberg Foundation with a menu chosen for you with recipes from the early 1900s of our territory, revisited by the chef. You will be welcomed in this place very rich in peasant originality and you can taste foods full of ancient flavors accompanied by excellent wines.

9.30 am departure with the guide in the direction of the hills overlooking Gorizia. Short visit to the ossuary of Oslavia where about 60,000 soldiers who fought in the 12 battles of the Isonzo, which ended with the epilogue of the last one with the defeat of Caporetto, find rest in a cylindrical structure. You will continue through the Slovenian Collio called Brda to reach the top of the main hill overlooking Gorizia, Mount Sabotino. You will be greeted by the manager of the refuge who will tell us about the vicissitudes of the soldiers on this mountain, and will take you to see the refurbished shelters and gunboats. With a breathtaking view on both sides you will then be welcomed into the refuge for a frugal and domestic lunch but full of emotions and flavors. You will return by taking a panoramic tour of the Collio hills, a place famous for the excellent quality of its wines, in particular white wines. A stop at a farm will certainly be a must to learn about the secrets of the winemakers and to taste their wines accompanied by a small snack of home-made cold cuts and cheeses.