Monte Ermada, also known as Hermada ( sl, Grmada) is a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

on the

Karst Plateau The Karst Plateau or the Karst region ( sl, Kras, it, Carso), also locally called Karst, is a karst plateau region extending across the border of southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills sur ...

, near the border between the Italian provinces of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

and

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gorit ...

. Most of it is located in the municipality of

Duino-Aurisina Duino-Aurisina ( sl, Devin-Nabrežina, german: Thübein-Nabreschin, also ; vec, label=Triestine, Duin-Aurisina) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Trieste in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Lying near the border with S ...

, with its eastern appendages in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n territory. It consists of a

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

with several peaks: besides the main peak, which stands 323 meters above sea level, there are Jastreb (289 m), Goljak (278 m), Grižnik (225 m), Vrh Griže (280 m), Cocco/Na Kokem (280 m), Frščak (235 m), Ter (281 m), Gabrnjak (297 m), Dosso Petrinia/Veliki Škrnjak (201 m), Dosso Petrinia inferior/Mali Škrnjak (167 m), Lisičji Vrh (294 m) and the isolated Castelliere di Ceroglie/Ostri Vrh (215 m). Small valleys, carsic swamps and

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s are located between the peaks. The small village of Cerovlje, a hamlet of Duino-Aurisina, is located at the foot of the Ermada. Archaeological finds have shown that pre-historic settlements existed on the top of the Ermada. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Ermada was one of the main

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

bulwarks for the defense of

from September 1916 onwards; heavily fortified with multiple orders of trenches, tunnels, barbed wire and machine gun posts, it was repeatedly assaulted by the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

during the later

battles of the Isonzo The Battles of the Isonzo (known as the Isonzo Front by historians, sl, soška fronta) were a series of 12 battles between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I mostly on the territory of present-day Slovenia, and the remaind ...

, but never taken. Streets named after the Ermada, in commemoration of the battles of the First World War, exist in many Italian cities. Today the Ermada is an

open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

.Museo all’aperto del Monte Ermada
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References

{{reflist Landforms of Friuli-Venezia Giulia Karst Mountains of the Alps Hills of Italy Military history of Italy during World War I ceb:Monte Ermada it:Monte Ermada ru:Монте-Эрмада sl:Grmada (grič)