Historical-Urban Tour of Nova Gorica
A Journey Through the History of a Young Town – from a Socialist Showcase to a European Capital of Culture
Do you know where a state border runs across a shared square, which town was built on the site of another town’s former cemetery, and where the first pedestrian zone in Yugoslavia was created? Do you know which Slovenian town has the greatest diversity of plants and how Nova Gorica became one of the most unusual new towns in Europe? All this and much more can be discovered on this unique tour of Nova Gorica.
We will embark on a historical-urban walk through the relatively short yet turbulent history of Nova Gorica, full of fascinating stories, but also paradoxes and ironies. Visitors first discover the town’s original design as a socialist showcase facing the West, and then gradually uncover how this vision kept changing over time — and why the town looks the way it does today.
The tour was created and is guided by Dr. Blaž P. Kosovel, who, within the framework of Nova Gorica as the European Capital of Culture 2025, also prepared the guidebook Nova Gorica – A New Town on the Border and the Digital Archive of Nova Gorica, which you are currently browsing.
Walking distance: 3 km on flat terrain
Duration: The guided walk lasts between 1.5 and 2.5 hours
Price: 200–300 EUR (depending on group size and programme length)
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Recommended Additional Visits
Franciscan Monastery Kostanjevica (1 hour)
5 € per person
Kostanjevica Monastery
Museum on the Border / EPIC (1 hour)
11 € per person
EPIC – City on the Border
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Selected Media Coverage
Sunday radio feature about the Nova Gorica walk for the First Programme of Radio Slovenia
RTV Slovenia – radio feature
Feature on the presentation of the guidebook
Primorske novice / Svet24
RTV Slovenia feature about the urban-historical walk through Nova Gorica
RTV Slovenia – We Were Supposed to Build Something Great...
Presentation of Nova Gorica in the documentary film Ideal Cities (RTV Slovenia)
RTV 365 – Ideal Cities
Author of the documentary series Goriška Walks
YouTube – Goriška Walks
Co-editor of the special issue of Razpotja magazine marking the 70th anniversary of Nova Gorica
Razpotja – Special Issue on Nova Gorica