SMALL JOURNEYS IN SEARCH OF LOST MEMORY
by NEVIO COSTANZO
Dario Stasi’s book “Around Gorizia”, published by Transmedia in 2009, is full of information on what you can see and find in the Gorizia area.
The subtitle invites you to make “small journeys in search of lost memory” and for this reason it was an inspiration for me to follow some of his itineraries that I did by bicycle, always starting from the Transalpina/Trg Evrope square, the fulcrum of GO! 2025.
Corno-Koren
The first chapter of this book opens with “The discovery of the Horn: the real river of Gorizia?” to search for the roots of the Horn, whose name in the Slovenian language is Koren, precisely, root.
Even more important rivers have more than one source, such as the Sava, which has both the Sava Dolinka and the Sava Bohinjka; or the Danube, which takes its name at the confluence of two small streams, the Brigach and the Breg, of which the first boasts noble origins.
The Koren/Corno, the “stream” that crosses the two Gorizias, did not want to be outdone, having two sources (at least).
A challenging climb, on an asphalt road to the Kekec restaurant, is followed by a descent on a dirt road that put a strain on both the brakes and the balance to make correct trajectories in the corners.
At the top of this up and down is the spring, but the place is inaccessible. Only a wooden bridge is a sign of the passage of the watercourse. The place is located under the slopes of Mount San Gabriele, the underlying Santa Caterina.
The second source is located in the Panovec forest. From this spring, somewhat adapted after the works of the adjacent industrial/commercial area, the rivulet flows until it flows into the Kanal Koren, a work made necessary in the autumn of 1948 to prepare the ground before building Nova Gorica. Later he joins the other Koren.
The flowing water was good, to the point that one restaurant even offered crayfish. Of this only the sign remains.
The watercourse flows in the open air up to the municipal border of Gorizia, beyond which it is (re)covered and then re-emerges at the Corno valley, resuming the underground route further on. And then enter, almost free for a few hundred meters, but channeled, it flows into the Isonzo.
Lijak
Since appetite comes with eating, following the trail of the previously mentioned book and driven by my curiosity to deepen my knowledge of the area, I ventured on more than one excursion to the source of the Lijak stream, which until 1947 marked the border of the municipality of Gorizia. Lijak is a tributary of the Vipava River.
Upon arrival, the odometer showed a distance of almost 9 km, a route that could be covered with peace of mind in just under an hour. The route has some climbs, such as those towards Kromberk – Moncorona and the spring itself, but it also offers the opportunity to admire the green landscape.
A photo in the book shows a lush stream, almost on the verge of flooding. At the time of my visits, however, the scenario was quite different: not even a trickle of water, only dry rocks and a few scattered pools. However, a few meters below, a trickle of water filled the riverbed.
Continuing along the route, shortly after a bridge over the busy road to Ajdovščina, you will come across a practicable dirt road that runs along the river. This stretch offers suggestive views between the orchards – famous for their tasty peaches – and the waterway, making it perfect for a pleasant bike ride.
A city bike can also be suitable, as long as you set it up properly before tackling the short path that leads to the spring on foot.
Sabotin
I see Mount Sabotin from a window of my house, I can almost touch it with my hand. I have walked there many times, but this time I decided to reach it by bicycle.
After crossing the now very popular cycle-pedestrian bridge over the Soča-Soča river, I take the shady and beautiful cycle path (G1) on the right orographic bank of the emerald river.
Shortly before Plave, at the end of the climb, I change direction and take the road that leads to Šmartno/San Martino di Quisca.
A few hairpin bends, little traffic, fortunately the road is always in the shade, including a good part of the former military road that leads to the former granite barracks. The panoramic views invite you to stop and take a few photos. Along the way I meet evidence of the First World War – the pyramids that are located on the side of the road mark the front line – and a typical flora of a border, not political, but phytogeographical. Here several “districts” intersect: pre-Alpine, Mediterranean, Dinaric. Biodiversity is a fundamental component of Nature.
I arrive at the top, a few tourists, but above all silence, or rather, I appreciate the sounds of the environment.
The itinerary presents some difficulties, not so much because of the smoothness of the roads traveled, but because it puts me to the test as a cyclist. The climbs are challenging, but with training and the right determination, they can be tackled and overcome. Some stops to catch our breath were necessary, also to drink abundantly from the water bottles, which were almost empty once I reached the destination, that is the former barracks … but I had not considered that the place was closed.
But reaching the top was satisfying, considering that long descents awaited me almost to Preval.
Lokve Loqua
I missed taking a bike ride to Lokve/Loqua by bike, even though I had already gone there in company as a boy. A lonely journey, this time. It was a bit hard at the beginning, the first climb, the one that runs along the quarry, but once you got into the rhythm, a calm pace, not syncopated, you face it and leave it behind.
With less slope
you go up, only you go up to get to Lokve with a few short respites, where there are the villages.
The climbs induce you to drink, water, but it is better to prevent thirst by taking a few sips before having a dry mouth.
The climbs also help you to meditate, to think, but also to admire what surrounds you.
Up to the intersection leading to Čepovan there was enough traffic of vehicles going up and down on this weekday, but respectful for those who ride bikes, keeping an adequate distance when overtaking. Then, like a fade, less and less, then almost none.
Then woods, black pine woods, unfortunately with the processionary. Then those of fir, beech, mixed.
An aspect that is not very highlighted, which is not noticed, is the smell, the scent that you smell when you ride a bike, especially in these environments. Resin, earth, cut wood.
In Lokve there was no one, not even a bear, maybe yes, myself…
Shall I go back? No, because the appetite (still) comes with eating, and then on, to face a dirt road not yet adequately beaten and, even if some stretches were flat, the effort was greater. The wheels dug the furrow. Not to mention the subsequent positive slope…
The silence was absolute, except for the sounds of Nature: the wind that crosses the trees, the flight of some birds of prey.
The descent arrives, a descent almost to Ajdovščina and, invariably, another sound base.
Obviously the headwind “helps” to return home. A nice experience.
… from Jesenice and beyond
It’s 7:30 (not 7:40…) in the morning and there’s a train leaving.
The multilingual announcement in Slovenian, Italian and English informs passengers waiting at the platform of the imminent arrival of the train from Sežana to Jesenice. A part of the carriage is intended for bike transport, with a supplement of €1.50 valid for the whole day.
Up to Most na Soči, the line runs along the Soča-Soča River. Here it meets two other rivers, the Idrijca and the Bača. On the banks of the latter, for strategic-military reasons, the itinerary was continued back in 1906.
From the train to the bike.
From the Transalpina railway, a term that encompasses a network of railways built to improve connections between the center of Europe and the port of Trieste, to the Rudolfian railway, for the stretch from Ljubljana to Tarvisio, now transformed into a very popular cycle path – D2 – (like the subsequent Alpe Adria FVG 1) along the Alpine valleys. Landscapes rich in green, bright green of the woods and meadows alternating with cultivated fields. Smells of silage, well-run stables and woodland. This scent thickens more and more when the cycle path from Kranjska Gora (FVG1/bis) reaches the Tarvisio Forest, crossing the Rateče plain. Here many small springs gush out that give rise to the Sava Dolinka. The river, which will then join the Sava Bohinjka, is the longest in Slovenia, and crosses Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia and then flows into the Danube.
Not far from the cycle path, on the parallel state road, is the International Mushing Dog Sledding School.
Trees.
One tree, in particular, captures attention for its presence and care. It is the linden, lipa (Linde in German), which according to Slovenian tradition is the sacred tree, symbol of life. From an environmental point of view, this tree has an excellent ability to improve air quality, both as a thermoregulation and for the absorption of polluting gases and fine dust.
A very important one, classified as monumental, is located within the park of the Venetian Palace of Malborghetto. A curiosity: this town was not once called that. Its original name was Bamborgert. The toponym perhaps derives from belonging to the bishops of Bamberg or from “rich village”. Due to historical events, a few years after the destruction of the town by Venetian troops (end of the 1300s), it became Malborghetto.