Annunciation Parish Church in Nova Gorica: A Franciscan Monastery Church
Site at a Glance
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Slovenia
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Habsburg, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Monastery
On this page9 sections
History
Carmelite foundation and pilgrimage
The Annunciation Parish Church is part of the Franciscan monastery at Kostanjevica in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. A Carmelite church, built by members of a Catholic religious order, was erected outside Gorizia in 1623. A monastery grew beside it over the following century, and its church became a pilgrimage destination for people from Friuli and Gorizia. Emperor Joseph II dissolved the monastery in 1781.
Franciscans and the Bourbon exiles
In 1811, Franciscans, another Catholic religious order, took over the abandoned complex and re-established the monastery. They brought a library from the nearby monastery of Sveta Gora. After the July Revolution of 1830 forced Charles X, the Bourbon king of France, into exile, members of his family settled in Gorizia during the 1830s, when the city belonged to the Austrian Empire.
The monastery remains Franciscan and Catholic, and is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Koper. Its library is named for Father Stanislav Škrabec, a prominent nineteenth-century Slovenian linguist who lived and worked at the monastery for more than 40 years.
War damage and the new border
The monastery was heavily damaged during the First World War’s Isonzo battles, campaigns fought principally between Italy and Austria-Hungary along the Isonzo front. It was restored between 1924 and 1929. The complex belonged to Gorizia until the end of the Second World War. In 1947, the Italy–Yugoslavia border was established a few hundred metres to its west, and Kostanjevica became part of the newly founded Nova Gorica.
Remains
The Church of the Annunciation stands on a 143-metre hill between Nova Gorica and Pristava, about 200 metres from the Italian border. The monastery complex also includes a crypt used for burials and a library.
Monastery features
Church
The Church of the Annunciation forms part of the monastery complex. Its earlier church was erected in 1623, and the monastery church later became a pilgrimage destination for people from Friuli and Gorizia.
Crypt
The monastery crypt is a burial chamber and the resting place of Charles X of France and members of his family, who went into exile after the July Revolution.
Library
The library holds a collection of about 10,000 books brought from Sveta Gora by the Franciscans. It bears the name of Father Stanislav Škrabec, who spent more than 40 years living and working at the monastery.
