Castello di Gorizia

The village “quae Sclavorum lingua vocatur Gorizia” (which in Slavonic tongue is called Gorizia) was first mentioned in a document dated 28 April 1001, by which Emperor Otto III granted half the castle and estate of Salcano with the village of Gorizia to Patriarch Johannes II and the other half to Count Verihen of Friuli. In 1117 the fief became the property of Marquardo di Eppenstein, governor of the Church of Aquileia. Later the castle was extended as the prestige of the family gradually increased. Wars, marriages and alliances eventually brought Gorizia into the sphere of influence of the Hapsburg Empire, so when Leonardo, last Count of Gorizia, died in 1500 the fief was taken over by Maximilian I Hapsburg. The new owner reinforced the castle defences but was not able to fend off the Venetian army, which occupied the castle in 1508 and held it for a brief period. During the 17th century it was used as a garrison and a prison, and almost totally lost its Medieval appearance. Having been bombed during World War I, it was rebuilt in 1934-37 after its own 16th century design.