Opicina (formerly Poggioreale del Carso in Italian), ( sl, Opčine,

Triestine The Triestine dialect ( it, triestino, Triestine: ) is a dialect of Venetian spoken in the city of Trieste. Many words in Triestine are taken from other languages. As Trieste borders with Slovenia and was under the Habsburg monarchy for almost ...

: ''Opcina''), is a town in northeastern

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 re ...

, close to the

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 border at Fernetti ( sl, Fernetiči). Opicina is a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' of the ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' 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 ...

, the provincial and regional capital. The town has a large Slovene population, with Slovenian being widely used alongside Italian in private and public institutions. The first town near Opicina is

Sežana Sežana (; it, Sesana) is a town in the Slovenian Littoral region of Slovenia, near the border with Italy. It is the seat of the Municipality of Sežana. Sežana is located on the Karst Plateau, from Trieste, Italy, and from Ljubljana, the cap ...

in Slovenia, there is also the next

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

Geography

It is located on the Carso/Kras Plateau, 3 miles north of

, a seaport on the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

Name

The name Opicina is of Slovene origin. It derives from "ob p'čine" ("ob pečini" in modern standard Slovene), meaning "by the cliff". Thus, it is among the Italian towns and villages in

Friuli Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

with a name of Slavic origin. Before

World War I 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 used to be known in Italian as Opcina, a name still used in the local

dialect. During the

Fascist regime Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

, the name was first Italianized into Villa Opicina, and subsequently renamed to Poggioreale del Carso. In 1966 it was renamed again as Villa Opicina. However, it has been frequently referred to as Opicina, including on road signs.

History and culture

Population

It is inhabited by a

Slovene minority in Italy Slovene minority in Italy ( it, Minoranza slovena in Italia, sl, Slovenska manjšina v Italiji), also known as Slovenes in Italy ( it, Sloveni in Italia, sl, Slovenci v Italiji) is the name given to Italian citizens who belong to the autochthon ...

. According to the last Austrian census of 1911, over 89% of the population was of Slovene ethnicity. In the following decades, this number fell significantly: according to the census of 1971, just above half of the population of the settlement belonged to the Slovene speaking community, while the rest were mostly Italian speakers.P. Stranj, ''La comunità sommersa'' (Trieste: Editoriale Stampa Triestina, 1992). In the last three decades, immigration from the city of Trieste and other predominantly Italian-speaking areas have most probably reduced the Slovene speakers to a minority. However,

Slovene language Slovene ( or ), or alternatively Slovenian (; or ), is a South Slavic languages, South Slavic language, a sub-branch that is part of the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family ...

is still widely used in the settlement, both in private and public life. Most of the official signs are

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

, Italian and Slovene. The local Slovenes speak a distinctive version of the

Inner Carniolan dialect This article uses Logar transcription. The Inner Carniolan dialect ( , ) is a Slovene dialect very close to the Lower Carniolan dialect, but with more recent accent shifts. It is spoken in a relatively large area, extending from western Inner ...

, which shows strong influences of the neighboring

Karst dialect This article uses Logar transcription. The Karst dialect ( , ), sometimes called the Gorizia–Karst dialect ( ), is a Slovene dialect spoken on the northern Karst Plateau, in the central Slovene Littoral, and in parts of the Italian province ...

Transport

The railway station Villa Opicina serves trains entering Italy from

, but does not provide a direct service to Trieste. At railway station is bus station also. From there the local buses connect village center and Trieste. The

Trieste–Opicina tramway The Trieste–Opicina tramway ( it, Tranvia Trieste-Opicina, sl, openski tramvaj, Triestine language, Triestine: ''Tram de Opcina'') is an unusual hybrid tram system, tramway and funicular, funicular railway in the city of Trieste, Italy. It lin ...

, a unique hybrid of tramway and

funicular railway A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

, links Villa Opicina village with ''Piazza Oberdan'' in Trieste city centre.

Notable people from Opicina

Alojz Rebula Alojz Rebula (June 21, 1924 – October 23, 2018) was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, and translator, and a prominent member of the Slovene minority in Italy. He lived and worked in Villa Opicina in the Province of Trieste, Italy. He was ...

Zora Tavčar Zora Tavčar (born 2 October 1928) is a Slovene writer, essayist and translator, living in Opicina (Slovenian: Opčine) in the suburbs of Trieste, Italy. She was married to a notable member of the Slovene minority in Italy, writer Alojz Rebula. ...

Alenka Rebula Tuta Alenka Rebula Tuta (born April 14, 1954) is a Slovene writer, poet, applied psychologist and a notable member of the Slovene minority in Italy. She lives and works in Sistiana in the Province of Trieste, Italy. Life She was born to father Alojz ...

Notes and references

External links

{{Authority control Frazioni of the Province of Trieste Italy–Slovenia border crossings