Šempeter pri Gorici ( or ; it, San Pietro di Gorizia) is a town and the administrative centre of the Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba in the

Slovene Littoral The Slovene Littoral ( sl, Primorska, ; it, Litorale; german: Küstenland) is one of the five traditional regions of Slovenia. Its name recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg possessions on the upper Adria ...

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 ...

. There is a border crossing into the Italian town of

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 ...

. The crossing is known as ''San Pietro di Gorizia'' in Italian. Through most of its history, it was linked to the town of

( sl, Gorica), which is now in Italy, whence also its name, literally meaning ' St. Peter near Gorizia'. Since 1947, it has been gravitating towards the newly established town of

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 dramati ...

, with which it forms a continuous

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...

History

In the Middle Ages, it was part of the

Patriarchate of Aquileia The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an episcopal see in northeastern Italy, centred on the ancient city of Aquileia situated at the head of the Adriatic, on what is now the Italian seacoast. For many centuries it played an important part in histor ...

and then of the

County of Gorizia The County of Gorizia ( it, Contea di Gorizia, german: Grafschaft Görz, sl, Goriška grofija, fur, Contee di Gurize), from 1365 Princely County of Gorizia, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. Originally mediate ''Vogts'' of the Patriarchs of ...

. In 1500, it came under

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

rule, and remained part of the

Habsburg Monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

until 1918, excluding a short French interim between 1809 and 1813. During the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

administration in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it formed an independent municipality. According to the last Austrian census of 1910, more than 97% of its inhabitants were ethnic

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovene as their n ...

.http://www.sistory.si/publikacije/prenos/?urn=SISTORY:ID:836 During

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 was almost completely destroyed during the

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 ...

. In August 1916, it was seized 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) ...

, but it was recaptured by the

Austro-Hungarians 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 1 ...

in November 1917. After the war, it was again occupied and later annexed by Italy. In the 1920s, it was rebuilt 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 ...

. In 1924 and 1947, it was an integral part of the Municipality of Gorizia, and effectively became a suburb of Gorizia. During

World War II 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 opposin ...

, it became an important center of

Yugoslav partisan The Yugoslav Partisans, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...

resistance. In May 1945, it was liberated by the Yugoslav Partisans. From June 1945 to September 1947 it was under Anglo-American military administration, before being annexed to

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in 1947. In the 1950s and 1960s, when the town of Nova Gorica was still largely under construction, several important institutions were headquartered in Šempeter, including the

Nova Gorica Grammar School , streetaddress = Delpinova 9 , city = Nova Gorica , country = SVN , coordinates = , head of school = Andrej Šušmelj , established = , type ...

and the Gorica Football Club. Since the 1970s, the regional

Franc Derganc General Hospital of Nova Gorica The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (Style of the French sovereign, King of the Franks) used on early France, ...

with a

maternity ward Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births global ...

has been located in Šempeter. Thus, most of the younger inhabitants of Nova Gorica and the wider ''

Goriška Goriška is a historical region in western Slovenia on the border with Italy. It comprises the northern part of the wider traditional region of the Slovenian Littoral (''Primorska''). The name ''Goriška'' is an adjective referring to the city of ...

'' area were born in Šempeter pri Gorici.

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Šempeter pri Gorici include: *

Valter Birsa Valter Birsa (born 7 August 1986) is a retired Slovenian footballer who played as a winger. Club career Born in Šempeter pri Gorici, he spent his childhood in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. Birsa's career began at the age of five, when he started play ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

Goran Cvijanović Goran Cvijanović (born 9 September 1986) is a retired Slovenian footballer who played as a midfielder. Personal life Cvijanović spent his early years in Nova Gorica, and moved to Šempeter pri Gorici when he was seven years old. His cousin M ...

, footballer * Kristjan Čujec,

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...

player * Saša Dončić, former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player * Andrej Komac, former footballer *

Jani Kovačič Jani Kovačič (born 14 June 1992) is a Slovenian volleyball player who plays for ACH Volley and the Slovenian national team. With Slovenia, he competed at the 2015 European Championship. Sporting achievements Club * National championships ** ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player *

Tim Matavž Tim Matavž (born 13 January 1989) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Croatian club Gorica. Club career Matavž began his football career at the age of 6 playing for Bilje. In 2004, he moved to Gorica youth s ...

, footballer *

Borut Mavrič Borut Mavrič (born 27 March 1970) is a former Slovenian footballer. He represented Slovenia internationally. Club career Mavrič was born in Šempeter pri Gorici Šempeter pri Gorici ( or ; it, San Pietro di Gorizia) is a town and the admini ...

, footballer *

Borut Pahor Borut Pahor (; born 2 November 1963) is a Slovenian politician who served as President of Slovenia from 2012 to 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from November 2008 to February 2012. A longtime member and former presid ...

, current Slovenian president *

Etien Velikonja Etien Velikonja (born 26 December 1988) is a retired Slovenian professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Gorica Velikonja started to play football at Gorica. Coming through their youth system, he was promoted to the senior ...

, footballer * Miha Zajc, footballer * Saša Živec, footballer

References

External links

Šempeter pri Gorici on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba Italy–Slovenia border crossings Cities and towns in the Slovene Littoral {{ŠempeterVrtojba-geo-stub