Napis Naš Tito

The first “Naš Tito” inscription was installed at the site where the Italian military barracks stands today, illuminated at night in the colours of the Italian flag. At the time, that part of Mount Sabotin was also under Yugoslav administration. This changed with the Osimo Agreements, under which part of Sabotin was assigned to Italy. Symbolically, the Italians wanted control of the hilltop where thousands of their soldiers had died during the First World War. As a result, a military barracks was built there, while the Yugoslav army removed the inscription and decided to relocate it to the eastern side.

Projekt Gorica was commissioned to carry out the work, with surveyors marking the letters on the terrain. Since the area is not completely flat, the size of each letter had to be calculated so that they would appear equally large when seen from a distance. The coordinates of the inscription were determined from the municipal building on Kidričeva Street. The letters are approximately eight to ten metres high and about two metres wide. On the ground, individual letters may therefore differ in size by up to two metres, while appearing uniform from afar.

Initially, the letters were painted white. The paint was supplied by the road construction company, using the same material employed for road markings. The inscription was inaugurated in 1978.

In the late 1990s, a group of opponents of the inscription—including Ivo Hvalica, Niko Jurca, and others—issued a call for its removal, arguing that it constituted an illegal construction. This was followed by the purchase of the land on which the word “Tito” was written. Subsequently, in the section where the word “naš” (ours) had appeared, the letters were rearranged so that “Tito” once again became visible.

Years of disputes between supporters and opponents followed, manifesting from the town as constant changes: at times the inscription read “Tito”, then “Nato”, even “Fido”, then disappeared altogether, only to reappear again as “Tito”. On May Day, a group of supporters climbs the hill and illuminates the inscription with torches.

The only monument to Tito in the town was therefore erected by the military rather than by the civil authorities.

Avtor: Blaž Kosovel

Vir:

Conversation with Tomaž Vuga, 9 February 2024

Tags