Doberdò del Lago
Encyclopedia
Doberdò del Lago is a comune
(municipality) in the Province of Gorizia
in the Italian
region Friuli-Venezia Giulia
, located about 30 km northwest of Trieste
and about 11 km southwest of Gorizia
. The majority of the population are ethnic Slovenes.
Doberdò del Lago borders the following municipalities: Komen
, Duino-Aurisina
, Fogliano Redipuglia
, Miren-Kostanjevica
, Monfalcone
, Ronchi dei Legionari
, Sagrado
, Savogna d'Isonzo
. It is located in the westernmost part of the Kras Plateau.
Doberdò is the only municipality in the Province of Gorizia
that lies entirely on the Kras
(Carso) plateau. The Doberdò area has a crucial strategic position. Throughout the middle of the municipality, in fact, runs a relatively wide and flat canyon that stretches from north to south, connecting the Vipava Valley
to the Adriatic sea
. The canyon is called simply Dol (Slovene for vale
). The main road between Gorizia
and Trieste
runs through this canyon, which is the most direct connection between the Goriška
region and the seaside.
At its southern edge, the Dol Canyon widens into a typical karst polje
, dominated by Lake Doberdò. The village of Doberdò is located west of Dol Canyon, on an elevated section of the Carso Plateau known as the Doberdò Karst (Carso di Doberdò, Doberdobski Kras). On the east side of the Dol Canyon rises the plateau known as the Trieste and Komen
Karst (Tržaško-komenski Kras), which continues eastward and southward into neighboring Slovenia
. Dol Canyon ends in the narrow Timavo
Valley, which is already located in the neighboring municipality of Duino
.
, Italian Campaign (World War I)
, Julian March
, Operational Zone Adriatic Coast
The Slavic
ancestors of the present-day Slovenes settled the Kras
plateau in the 7th century AD. In the Middle Ages, the village belonged to the Lombard kingdom, the Frankish Kingdom, to the Patriarchate of Aquileia
, and finally to the Counts of Gorizia which acquired it in the 15th century.
The village was first mentioned in 1179 as Dobradan. This was probably as misspelling of the Slovene name Doberdob. Together with the rest of the County of Gorizia
, Doberdob came under Habsburg
rule in 1500, and remained part of the Habsburg Monarchy
until 1918, when it was occupied and annexed to Italy
.
The whole area was the scene of fierce fighting between the Austro-Hungarian and the Italian Armies during World War I
. The village was completely destroyed during the Battles of the Isonzo
. More than a fifth of the population lost their lives as a consequence of the war. Between 1922 and 1943, Doberdob was subjected to a policy of violent Fascist Italianization. During this period, the village was part of the Province of Trieste
.
During World War II
, the Communist-lead Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
organized anti-Fascist resistance in the area starting from late 1942. Many locals fought and died in the Yugoslav partisan units. The village was liberated by the Yugoslav People's Army
on May 1, 1945. The Yugoslavs withdrew already in June of the same year, and were replaced by the Anglo-American Military administration. In September 1947, the village was reincorporated into Italy, and was included in the Province of Gorizia
.
Between the mid 1950s and the late 1980s, Doberdob was one of the electoral strongholds of the Italian Communist Party
, although a significant proportion of the electorate also supported the Slovene Union
, the democratic party of the Slovenes in Italy. Since the 1990s, the vast majority of the population has supported one the left-wing political parties.
, while the high school is named after Ivan Trinko, a Slovene bishop, author and minority rights activist from Friulian Slovenia.
There are many cultural and civic associations in the municipality.
. Since many Slovene soldiers fought in the battle as soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Army
. A popular war song Doberdob with the verse "Doberdob, slovenskih fantov grob" ("Doberdò, the grave of Slovene lads"), made the name of the village famous all across the Slovene Lands
. In 1940, the Slovene writer Prežihov Voranc
chose the name of the village as the title for one of his most famous novels, Doberdob (undertitled: "The War Novel of the Slovene People"). With this novel, Doberdò became the central symbolic place of the Slovene victims in World War I.
Doberdò is also a symbolic place for the Hungarians, since many of them died in the battle fighting in the Austro-Hungarian Army. In Hungary
, there is a popular war song with the name Doberdó, reminiscent of the battle. In May 2009, a chapel commemorating the Hungarian victims of the Battles of the Isonzo
was inaugurated in the hamlet of Visintini with a trilingual, Italian-Hungarian-Slovene inscription.
, the Slovenian social-democratic politician and lawyer Josip Ferfolja
, and the Italian cyclist Giorgio Ursi
(Jurij Uršič).
, Slovenia
, since 1998 Prvačina
, Slovenia, since 1977 Újfehértó
, Hungary
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
(municipality) in the Province of Gorizia
Province of Gorizia
The Province of Gorizia is a province in the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region of Italy.-Overview:Its capital is the city of Gorizia. It belonged to the Province of Udine between 1924 and 1927 and the communes of Sonzia, Plezzo, Bergogna, Caporetto, Tolmino, Circhina, Santa Lucia d'Isonzo,...
in the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
region Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
, located about 30 km northwest of Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
and about 11 km southwest of Gorizia
Gorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
. The majority of the population are ethnic Slovenes.
Doberdò del Lago borders the following municipalities: Komen
Komen
Komen is a settlement and a municipality in Slovenia. It is located on the Kras plateau in the Slovenian Littoral.-History:In the Middle Ages, it was first part of the Duchy of Friuli and in the 13th century it was included in the County of Gorizia. Komen was first mentioned in a document from 1247...
, Duino-Aurisina
Duino-Aurisina
Duino-Aurisina is a comune in the Province of Trieste in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Lying near the border with Slovenia, it has a substantial Slovene population...
, Fogliano Redipuglia
Fogliano Redipuglia
Fogliano Redipuglia is a comune in the Province of Gorizia in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 35 km northwest of Trieste and about 13 km southwest of Gorizia...
, Miren-Kostanjevica
Miren-Kostanjevica
Miren-Kostanjevica is a municipality in western Slovenia, on the border with Italy. It is part of the Goriška region of the Slovene Littoral. The municipality's main settlements are Miren and Kostanjevica na Krasu...
, Monfalcone
Monfalcone
Monfalcone is a town and comune of the province of Gorizia , located on the coast of the Gulf of Trieste. Monfalcone means "Mount of Falcon" in Italian....
, Ronchi dei Legionari
Ronchi dei Legionari
Ronchi dei Legionari is a comune in the Province of Gorizia in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 30 km northwest of Trieste and about 14 km southwest of Gorizia....
, Sagrado
Sagrado
Sagrado is a comune in the Province of Gorizia in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 35 km northwest of Trieste and about 13 km southwest of Gorizia....
, Savogna d'Isonzo
Savogna d'Isonzo
Savogna d'Isonzo is a comune in the Province of Gorizia in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 35 km northwest of Trieste and about 3 km southwest of Gorizia, on the border with Slovenia. It is located at the conjunctions Kras Plateau and the Vipava Valley. The vast...
. It is located in the westernmost part of the Kras Plateau.
Geographical location
Province of Gorizia
The Province of Gorizia is a province in the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region of Italy.-Overview:Its capital is the city of Gorizia. It belonged to the Province of Udine between 1924 and 1927 and the communes of Sonzia, Plezzo, Bergogna, Caporetto, Tolmino, Circhina, Santa Lucia d'Isonzo,...
that lies entirely on the Kras
Kras
Karst ; also known as the Karst Plateau, is a limestone borderline plateau region extending in southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the valley, the westernmost part of the Brkini Hills, northern Istria, and the Gulf of Trieste...
(Carso) plateau. The Doberdò area has a crucial strategic position. Throughout the middle of the municipality, in fact, runs a relatively wide and flat canyon that stretches from north to south, connecting the Vipava Valley
Vipava Valley
The Vipava Valley is a valley located in the Slovenian Littoral, between the towns of Nova Gorica and Vipava.-Geography:It is a narrow valley, serving as the main passage between Friulian lowland and central Slovenia, and thus also an important corridor connecting Northern Italy to Central Europe...
to the Adriatic sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
. The canyon is called simply Dol (Slovene for vale
River Valley
River Valley is the name of an urban planning area within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district.The River Valley Planning Area is defined by the region bounded by Orchard Boulevard, Devonshire Road and Eber Road to the north, Oxley Rise and Mohamed Sultan Road to the east, Martin...
). The main road between Gorizia
Gorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
and Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
runs through this canyon, which is the most direct connection between the Goriška
Goriška
Goriška is a traditional region in western Slovenia on the border with Italy. The name means "the Gorizia region" because it is named after Gorizia, Italy. It is part of the wider traditional region of the Slovenian Littoral . Its principal urban center is Nova Gorica...
region and the seaside.
At its southern edge, the Dol Canyon widens into a typical karst polje
Polje
A polje is a large flat plain in karst territory, with areas usually 5 to 400 km². The name derives from the Slavic languages and is a cognate with the English word field.-In geology:...
, dominated by Lake Doberdò. The village of Doberdò is located west of Dol Canyon, on an elevated section of the Carso Plateau known as the Doberdò Karst (Carso di Doberdò, Doberdobski Kras). On the east side of the Dol Canyon rises the plateau known as the Trieste and Komen
Komen
Komen is a settlement and a municipality in Slovenia. It is located on the Kras plateau in the Slovenian Littoral.-History:In the Middle Ages, it was first part of the Duchy of Friuli and in the 13th century it was included in the County of Gorizia. Komen was first mentioned in a document from 1247...
Karst (Tržaško-komenski Kras), which continues eastward and southward into neighboring Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. Dol Canyon ends in the narrow Timavo
Timavo
The River, known in Slovene as the or , is a 2-km river in the Province of Trieste. It has four sources near San Giovanni near Duino and outflows in the Gulf of Panzano between Trieste and Monfalcone , Italy....
Valley, which is already located in the neighboring municipality of Duino
Duino-Aurisina
Duino-Aurisina is a comune in the Province of Trieste in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Lying near the border with Slovenia, it has a substantial Slovene population...
.
History
see also: Gorizia and GradiscaGorizia and Gradisca
The County of Gorizia and Gradisca was a Habsburg county in Central Europe, in what is now a multilingual border area of Italy and Slovenia. It was named for its two major urban centers, Gorizia and Gradisca d'Isonzo.-Province of the Habsburg Empire:...
, Italian Campaign (World War I)
Italian Campaign (World War I)
The Italian campaign refers to a series of battles fought between the armies of Austria-Hungary and Italy, along with their allies, in northern Italy between 1915 and 1918. Italy hoped that by joining the countries of the Triple Entente against the Central Powers it would gain Cisalpine Tyrol , the...
, Julian March
Julian March
The Julian March is a former political region of southeastern Europe on what are now the borders between Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy...
, Operational Zone Adriatic Coast
The Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
ancestors of the present-day Slovenes settled the Kras
Kras
Karst ; also known as the Karst Plateau, is a limestone borderline plateau region extending in southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the valley, the westernmost part of the Brkini Hills, northern Istria, and the Gulf of Trieste...
plateau in the 7th century AD. In the Middle Ages, the village belonged to the Lombard kingdom, the Frankish Kingdom, to the Patriarchate of Aquileia
Patriarchate of Aquileia (State)
The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an Imperial State in the Friulian region of Northeastern Italy under the control of the Patriarchs of Aquileia.- Foundation :...
, and finally to the Counts of Gorizia which acquired it in the 15th century.
The village was first mentioned in 1179 as Dobradan. This was probably as misspelling of the Slovene name Doberdob. Together with the rest of the County of Gorizia
County of Gorizia
The County of Görz was a county based around the town of Gorizia in the present-day Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of north-eastern Italy.Count Meinhard, descendant of the Bavarian Meinhardiner noble family with possessions around Lienz in Tyrol, is mentioned as early as 1107...
, Doberdob came under Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
rule in 1500, and remained part of the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
until 1918, when it was occupied and annexed to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
The whole area was the scene of fierce fighting between the Austro-Hungarian and the Italian Armies during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The village was completely destroyed during the Battles of the Isonzo
Battles of the Isonzo
The Battles of the Isonzo were a series of 12 battles between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I. They were fought along the Soča River on the eastern sector of the Italian Front between June 1915 and November 1917...
. More than a fifth of the population lost their lives as a consequence of the war. Between 1922 and 1943, Doberdob was subjected to a policy of violent Fascist Italianization. During this period, the village was part of the Province of Trieste
Province of Trieste
The Province of Trieste is a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Trieste.It has an area of 212 km², and a total population of 236,520...
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Communist-lead Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
On 26 April 1941 in Ljubljana the Anti-Imperialist Front was established. It was to promote "an international massive movement" to "liberate the Slovenian nation" whose "hope and example was the Soviet Union"...
organized anti-Fascist resistance in the area starting from late 1942. Many locals fought and died in the Yugoslav partisan units. The village was liberated by the Yugoslav People's Army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
on May 1, 1945. The Yugoslavs withdrew already in June of the same year, and were replaced by the Anglo-American Military administration. In September 1947, the village was reincorporated into Italy, and was included in the Province of Gorizia
Province of Gorizia
The Province of Gorizia is a province in the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region of Italy.-Overview:Its capital is the city of Gorizia. It belonged to the Province of Udine between 1924 and 1927 and the communes of Sonzia, Plezzo, Bergogna, Caporetto, Tolmino, Circhina, Santa Lucia d'Isonzo,...
.
Between the mid 1950s and the late 1980s, Doberdob was one of the electoral strongholds of the Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
, although a significant proportion of the electorate also supported the Slovene Union
Slovene Union
The Slovene Union is a centrist Italian political party representing the Slovene minority in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Its name in Slovene means literally "The Slovene Community", but the denomination "Slovene Union" is used in other languages....
, the democratic party of the Slovenes in Italy. Since the 1990s, the vast majority of the population has supported one the left-wing political parties.
Culture and education
The vast majority of the population belongs to the Slovene minority in Italy. The village has a state-run preschool, elementary school, and high school, all of them with Slovene as the language of instruction. The elementary school is named after the Slovenian writer Prežihov VorancPrežihov Voranc
Prežihov Voranc was the pen name of Lovro Kuhar, a Slovene writer and Communist political activist. Voranc's literary reputation was established during the 1930s with a series of Slovene novels and short stories in the social realist style, notable for their depictions of poverty in rural and...
, while the high school is named after Ivan Trinko, a Slovene bishop, author and minority rights activist from Friulian Slovenia.
There are many cultural and civic associations in the municipality.
Symbolic place of WWI
During World War I, the village was the scene of the Battle of DoberdòBattle of Doberdò
The Battle of Doberdò was one of the bloodiest battlefields of World War I, fought in August 1916 between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian Army, composed mostly of Hungarian and Slovenian regiments....
. Since many Slovene soldiers fought in the battle as soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
. A popular war song Doberdob with the verse "Doberdob, slovenskih fantov grob" ("Doberdò, the grave of Slovene lads"), made the name of the village famous all across the Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands or Slovenian Lands is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovene-inhabited territories in Central Europe. It more or less corresponds to modern Slovenia and the adjacent territories in Italy, Austria and Hungary in which autochthonous Slovene minorities live.-...
. In 1940, the Slovene writer Prežihov Voranc
Prežihov Voranc
Prežihov Voranc was the pen name of Lovro Kuhar, a Slovene writer and Communist political activist. Voranc's literary reputation was established during the 1930s with a series of Slovene novels and short stories in the social realist style, notable for their depictions of poverty in rural and...
chose the name of the village as the title for one of his most famous novels, Doberdob (undertitled: "The War Novel of the Slovene People"). With this novel, Doberdò became the central symbolic place of the Slovene victims in World War I.
Doberdò is also a symbolic place for the Hungarians, since many of them died in the battle fighting in the Austro-Hungarian Army. In Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, there is a popular war song with the name Doberdó, reminiscent of the battle. In May 2009, a chapel commemorating the Hungarian victims of the Battles of the Isonzo
Battles of the Isonzo
The Battles of the Isonzo were a series of 12 battles between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I. They were fought along the Soča River on the eastern sector of the Italian Front between June 1915 and November 1917...
was inaugurated in the hamlet of Visintini with a trilingual, Italian-Hungarian-Slovene inscription.
Famous natives
Famous people born in the municipality of Doberdò include the Slovenian liberal economist Milko BrezigarMilko Brezigar
Milko Brezigar was a Slovene and Yugoslav liberal economist.Born to a Slovene family the village of Doberdò del Lago in the Austrian Littoral , he attended the State gymnasium in Gorizia. He studied law at the universities of Graz and Vienna, graduating in 1910...
, the Slovenian social-democratic politician and lawyer Josip Ferfolja
Josip Ferfolja
Josip Ferfolja was a Slovene lawyer and Social democratic politician, and human rights activist from the Province of Gorizia...
, and the Italian cyclist Giorgio Ursi
Giorgio Ursi
Giorgio Ursi was a racing cyclist from Italy. He was of Slovene ethnicity, and was also known as Jurij Uršič....
(Jurij Uršič).
Twin towns
BledBled
Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, since 1998 Prvačina
Prvacina
Prvačina is a village in the Vipava Valley in western Slovenia. It lies within the municipality of Nova Gorica.The Parish Church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Andrew and belongs to the Diocese of Koper.-External links:...
, Slovenia, since 1977 Újfehértó
Újfehértó
Újfehértó is a small town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary.- See also :* Teitelbaum, Satmar, Klausenberg* Nagykalló, Kalov-External links:*...
, Hungary