Škabrijel () is a hill above the town of

Nova Gorica Nova Gorica () is a town in western Slovenia, on the border with Italy. It is the seat of the Municipality of Nova Gorica. Nova Gorica is a planned town, built according to the principles of modernist architecture after 1947, when the Treaty of pe ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. The hill is named after the

Archangel Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

History

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

it was a stronghold of the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

. The hill was fought over in the

Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo The Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo was a World War I battle fought by the Italian and Austro-Hungarian Armies on the Italian Front between 18 August and 12 September 1917. Background On the Soča (Isonzo) River, Luigi Cadorna, the Italia ...

. During the battle, the top of Škabrijel Hill was lost and recaptured nine times by the Austro-Hungarians. One officer described the fighting, stating: "Around 6 o'clock in the morning, the Italians attacked for the first time, and then it went all day. But we always repulsed them with hand grenades, machine guns tried to take the trenches. I was on the left wing with six other men, strong and fearless. They went forward when they attacked, even the second time they persisted even though they were wounded and one dead. We held out and repulsed them with hand grenades." Due to artillery bombardment by the

Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

during the First World War, the hill—now densely wooded—was left almost entirely bare.

Geography

The hill stands northeast of Nova Gorica. The

Julian Alps The Julian Alps (, , , , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large part of the Julian Alps is inclu ...

and the

Carnic Alps The Carnic Alps (; ; ; ) are a range of the Southern Limestone Alps in Austria and northeastern Italy. They are within Austrian East Tyrol and Carinthia, and Italian Friuli (Province of Udine) and marginally in Veneto. Etymology They are ...

rise to the north. The Karst Black Hills, Trstelj Hill, and the

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

are to the south. To the east is the

Trnovo Forest Plateau The Trnovo Forest Plateau () is a karst plateau that constitutes the extreme northwest end of the Dinaric Alps.Perko, Drago, & Milan Orožen Adamič. 1998. ''Slovenija: pokrajine in ljudje''. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, p. 324. The Trnovo Forest ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skabrijel Geography of Slovenia Nova Gorica Mountains under 1000 metres