Gradisca d'Isonzo is a town and comune

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:...

of 6,600 inhabitants 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 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...

, north-eastern 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...

. It is located on the Isonzo River.

The town is an important cultural center for the Friulian people

Friulians

Friulians or Furlans are a linguistic minority living in Italy and elsewhere. About 530,000 of them live in the provinces of Udine and Pordenone and in parts of Gorizia and Venice. Their language, the Friulian language, is the second largest minority language in Italy. About 170,000 Friulians live...

 in the Venezia Giulia region.

History

The town's name is a Slavic

Slavic languages

The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...

 toponym: in archaic Slovene, Gradišče was a term indicating a fortified site or a ruin and is a widespread toponym in Slovene ethnic territory

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.-...

. Gradisca is mentioned for the first time in 1176, when it had a mixed population of Slavic and Latin origin under the Patriarchate of Aquileia. In 1473 it was annexed by the Republic of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

, which fortified it as a bastion against the Ottomans. In 1511 it was captured by Maximilian I

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...

, and thenceforth it was a possession of the House of Habsburg. In 1615, an attempts of the Venetians to reconquer it initiated the War of Gradisca. The town was however kept the Imperials, and was made capital of the County of Gradisca; later emperor Ferdinand III sold the territory to John Anthony of Eggenberg, whose family held Gradisca until 1717, enlarging and enriching it constantly.

With the disappearance of the Eggenberg, the county returned to the Habsburg, being united with 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...

 in 1754. In 1914, at the outbreak of 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 population of Gradisca fought under Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

. In 1921 the town became part of Italy.

Main sights

• Castle, built by the Venetians in the late 15th century over a pre-existing fortress known from 1176. It was enlarged under the Austrian domination (16th-17th centuries), later being turned into a jail. Among the people imprisoned here was Federico Confalonieri
  Federico Confalonieri
  Count Federico Confalonieri de Candia was an Italian revolutionist.-Biography:Confalonieri was born at Milan, descended from a noble Lombard family....
  
  .
• Cathedral
• Church of Santo Spirito, with an altarpiece by Pompeo Randi.