Transalpina Square

Transalpina Square
Piazza della Transalpina
Trg Evrope
Nova Gorica railway station
and the middle of the square
Namesake Transalpina Railway[1][2]
Location Italy Gorizia, Italy
Slovenia Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Coordinates 45°57′18″N 13°38′05″E / 45.95500°N 13.63472°E / 45.95500; 13.63472Coordinates: 45°57′18″N 13°38′05″E / 45.95500°N 13.63472°E / 45.95500; 13.63472
The station in early 20th century, when it was crossed by Gorizia Tramway[3]

Transalpina Square (Italian: Piazza della Transalpina,[4] meaning "Square of the Transalpina [Railway Line])"; Slovene: Trg Evrope,[5] meaning "Europe Square"), is a square divided between the towns of Gorizia, northeastern Italy, and Nova Gorica, southwestern Slovenia. The railway station of Nova Gorica is located at the eastern end of the square, on the Slovenian side.

History

Overview

From 1947 (Treaty of Paris) an international border between Italy and Yugoslavia (Slovenia since 1991) crosses the square.[6] Until 2004 the square is divided by a border wall,[7] movement on the square is now free because both Italy and Slovenia are EU members and parts of the Schengen Area.[8] Before 21 December 2007, free movement was only allowed within the square provided that a person that entered the square from one country returned to that country. An approved border crossing was located 100 m from the square. It is now no longer needed and has not been in use since 2007.

Naming

The square, in which is located Nova Gorica station, until 1947 Gorizia Montesanto,[4] was named after the Transalpine Railway,[1][2] Jesenice-Trieste. The naming of the square is somewhat controversial because Slovenia suggested "Europe Square", but Italy has preferred to use the old historical name Piazza della Transalpina.

Location

In the Slovenian side the square is crossed, parallelly to the station building, by a road named "Kolodvorska pot". The partly parallel Italian road is "Via Ugo Foscolo", that continues as "Via Caterina Percoto". Always on the Italian side, "Via Giuseppe Caprin", that starts in "Via Montesanto" ends in front of the station.

Events

In summers, the square is regularly used for concerts, public meetings, and public demonstrations or protests against local politics or current events.

References

  1. 1 2 (in German) Transalpina Railway on web.archive.org
  2. 1 2 Transalpina Railway (Ministry of Culture of Slovenia website)
  3. ↑ (in Italian) Tram network of Gorizia: article on itwiki
  4. 1 2 (in Italian) Piazza della Transalpina and Nova Gorica station on Gorizia municipal website
  5. ↑ (in Slovene) Trg Evrope Archived 2014-03-11 at the Wayback Machine. (Office of Tourism of Nova Gorica)
  6. ↑ (in Slovene) Tgr Evrope on kraji.eu
  7. ↑ "The last wall dividing East and West comes down": article on The Independent
  8. ↑ (in Italian) Piazza della Transalpina (Office of Tourism of Friuli-Venezia Giulia)


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.