| Municipality of Gorizia
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Pop.: 35,401
Area: 40,85 sq. km, 84 m a.s.l.
Neighbourhoods: Gradischiutta, Lucinico, Piuma,
S. Mauro, Piedimonte, Sant'Andrea
Town Hall: - 34170 Gorizia
Phone.: 0481.386222 Fax: 0481.386227
www.gorizia-turismo.it
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Related links:
Gorizia Castle
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The historical centre of the city
is Piazza della Vittoria
(formerly Piazza Grande),
triangular in shape, with the
impressive hill of the Castle in
the background on the eastern side. The
western side of the square is dominated by
the spectacular tall front of the Church of
S. Ignazio built according to the
project by Christoph Tausch (1673-1731),
flanked by two bell towers with onionshaped
spires, typical of Northern tastes,
and the façade marked by columns and
pilasters. The statues in the niches are
precious as well. The church, the greatest in
the city, was built between 1654 and 1747 at
the behest of the Jesuits who had settled in
Gorizia a few decades earlier. Its solemn
interior, with a single nave and six side
chapels, houses magnificent 18th- and 19thcentury
fittings. Among the numerous art
works in the church, the majestic high altar
must be mentioned, with its beautiful
marble statues by Venetian sculptor
P. Lazzarini (1716), and the delightful
presbytery fresco (The Glory of
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S. Ignazio), a masterpiece of baroque
perspective illusionism by the same
architect and artist from Tirol Christoph
Tausch (1721). The influence of his
master Andrea Pozzo is much felt both
in the fresco and in the whole façade
plan. Along the southern side of the
Piazza is Palazzo della Torre, the seat
of the Prefecture), with its noble 16thcentury
architecture which,
unfortunately, has been completely
restructured. Further embellishment to
the Piazza is given by Neptune's Fountain
(1756), maybe the best known work by
Nicolò Picassi, a native to the city; the
fountain, as several other works by the
same artist, has
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required restoration works
owing to the poor quality of the materials
used. Southwards from Piazza Vittoria the
picturesque Via Rastello, the old
mercantile porticoed street whose 18th- and
19th-century buildings have remained
almost untouched, leads to the Duomo
dedicated to Patron Saints Ilario and
Taziano, which has been the city cathedral
since 1752. Separated from the tall Bell
Tower, situated at the back, in spite of its
simple hut-shaped structure, with a rather
anonymous façade remade in 1924, the
cathedral is the result of a complex
architectural process taking place between
the 16th and 18th centuries when two preexisting
medieval buildings were made
into one. The existence of an early church
of S. Ilario is mentioned in a
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patriarchal
document dated 1342, whereas a small
church dedicated to S. Acazio (of which
only a late Gothic structure remains at the
end of the right-hand aisle, painted in the
geometric texture of the vault) was built
south of the former building. The threenave
interior, whose aisles are very low
due to the unusual presence of women's
galleries, is mainly decorated with late-
Baroque stuccoes and was severely
damaged during the war (a large fresco,
dated 1702, by G. Quaglio decorating the ceiling
was
completely
destroyed). The
high altar, containing
several sculptures, was
the work of the Pacassis'
workshop (ca. 1705). In the lefthand
aisle the cenotaph of
Leonardo, Count of Gorizia, in his
noble military clothes, can be seen, an
impressive work of early 16th century
German art. The Duomo also houses the
Treasure, including remarkable medieval
and later jewellery belonging to the
dispersed properties of the Aquileia
Patriarchate.
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Among the smallest in Italy, Gorizia
province is a unique casket of natural,
historical and cultural beauty, benefiting
from mild climate most
of the year, a place
where, to the
north, the hilly
landscape
of the
Collio area - frequently
terraced and world
renown for its winesopens
to Europe through
the valleys of the Isonzo
and Vipacco Rivers. The
central-eastern part of the
province is of karst...go
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