Kostanjevica na Krasu (; it, Castagnevizza) is one of the main settlements and the administrative centre of the

Municipality of Miren-Kostanjevica The Municipality of Miren-Kostanjevica (; sl, Občina Miren - Kostanjevica, it, Comune di Merna Castagnevizza) is a municipality in western Slovenia, on the border with Italy. Miren-Kostanjevica is part of the Goriška region of the Slovene Li ...

in the

Littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal a ...

region of

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 ...

. It is located in the northwestern part of 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 su ...

, not far from

Nova Gorica A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramat ...

and the border with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Name

Kostanjevica was attested in written records in 1350 as ''Costangnawicz.'' Like other settlements that share the name (e.g., '' Kostanjevica'', ''

Kostanjevica na Krki Kostanjevica na Krki (; also ''Kostanjevica ob Krki,'' german: Landstraß''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 68.) is a small town in the ...

''), it is derived from the Slovene common noun ''kostanj'' ' chestnut', referring to the local vegetation. The name was changed to ''Kostanjevica na Krasu'' (literally, 'Kostanjevica on the Karst Plateau') in 1952. During the interwar period it was known as ''Castagnevizza del Carso'' in Italian.

History

Belonging to Austrian Littoral, it was part of

County of Gorizia and Gradisca The Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca (german: Gefürstete Grafschaft Görz und Gradisca; it, Principesca Contea di Gorizia e Gradisca; sl, Poknežena grofija Goriška in Gradiščanska), historically sometimes shortened to and spelled " ...

. During

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 ...

, it was destroyed and its settlers were forced to leave it, sharing the destiny of many Slovene refugees affected by the Battles of the Isonzo. Italy annexed it after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary and during forced Italianization renamed it ''Castagnevizza''. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

it was burned by the German Army on 29 September 1944. After the

a new village, very different from the former one, was built on the site according to the plans of the architect

Max Fabiani Maximilian Fabiani, commonly known as Max Fabiani ( it, Massimo, sl, Maks) (29 April 1865 – 12 August 1962) was a cosmopolitan trilingual architect and town planner of mixed Italian-Austrian ancestry, born in the village of Kobdilj near Š ...

Church

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Martin and belongs to the

Diocese of Koper ) , cocathedral = Co-Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Nova Gorica() , area_km2 = 4,386 , parishes = 100 , population = 266,403 , population_as_of = 2013 , catholics = 181,230 , catholics_percent= 68 , pope ...

.Roman Catholic Diocese of Koper List of Churches May 2008

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Kostanjevica na Krasu include: *

Igor Torkar Igor Torkar was the pen name of Boris Fakin (13 October 1913 – 1 January 2004), a Slovenian writer, playwright, and poet best known for his literary descriptions of Communist repression in Yugoslavia after World War II. Life Torkar was born i ...

(pen name of Boris Fakin, 1913–2004), writer and poet

References

External links

*
Kostanjevica na Krasu on Geopedia

Populated places in the Municipality of Miren-Kostanjevica {{MirenKostanjevica-geo-stub