Editing Gradisca d'Isonzo

{{Infobox Italian comune
| name                = Gradisca d'Isonzo
| official_name       = Città di  Gradisca d'Isonzo
| native_name         = 
| image_skyline       = EFrancoGradiscaViaCiotti200903.JPG
| imagesize           = 
| image_alt           = 
| image_caption       = Main street with town hall (left)
| image_shield        = Gradisca d'Isonzo-Stemma.svg
| shield_alt          = 
| image_map           = 
| map_alt             = 
| map_caption         = 
| pushpin_map   = Italy Friuli-Venezia Giulia#Italy
| pushpin_label_position = 
| coordinates         = {{coord|45|53|N|13|30|E|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| region              = [[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]]
| province            = [[Province of Gorizia|Gorizia]] (GO)
| frazioni            = 
| mayor_party         = 
| mayor               = Linda Tomasinsig
| area_footnotes      = 
| area_total_km2      = 10
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total    = 6468
| population_as_of    = 31 August 2017
| pop_density_footnotes = 
| population_demonym  = Gradiscani
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m         = 32
| twin1               = 
| twin1_country       = 
| saint               = Sts. Peter and Paul
| day                 = June 29
| postal_code         = 34072
| area_code           = 0481
| website             = {{official website|http://www.comune.gradiscadisonzo.go.it}}
| footnotes           = 
}}

'''Gradisca d'Isonzo''' ({{langx|fur|Gardiscja}} or {{lang|fur|Gardiscje}}; {{langx|sl|Gradišče ob Soči}}; archaic {{langx|de|Gradis am Sontig}}) is a town and {{lang|it|[[comune]]}} (municipality) in the [[Province of Gorizia|Regional decentralization entity of Gorizia]] in [[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]], north-eastern [[Italy]]. The lawyer, linguist, philologist [[Philippe Sarchi]]  was born in Gradisca d'Isonzo. It is one of {{lang|it|[[I Borghi più belli d'Italia]]|i=no}} ("The most beautiful villages of Italy").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://borghipiubelliditalia.it/friuli/|title=Friuli Venezia Giulia|date=10 January 2017 |access-date=31 July 2023|language=it}}</ref>

==Geography==
The municipality is located in north-eastern [[Italy]] on the right bank of the [[Isonzo]] River, about {{convert|12|km|mi}} southwest of [[Gorizia]]. It received [[town privileges]] on 14 July 1936. As of a 2011 census, the population of Gradisca is about 6,528.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gradisca d'Isonzo (Gorizia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/italy/friuliveneziagiulia/gorizia/031008__gradisca_disonzo/ |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=www.citypopulation.de}}</ref>

The town is an important centre of the Friulian culture in the [[Julian March|Julian Venetia]] region.

== History ==
The town's name is a [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] toponym: in archaic Slovene, ''gradišče'' (cf. [[Gord (Slavic settlement)|gord]]) was a term indicating a fortified site or a ruin and is a widespread [[toponym]] in the [[Slovene Lands]]. The strategically-important area on the Isonzo River was probably already settled in [[Roman Empire|Roman]] times and under the [[Kingdom of the Lombards]], later exposed to the attacks by [[Hungarian invasions of Europe|Hungarian]] forces on [[Northern Italy]].
[[File:EFrancoGradiscaCastello200903.JPG|thumb|400px|left|Gradisca Castle]]
The rural settlement of Gradisca is mentioned for the first time in 1176, when it had a mixed population of Slavic and Latin origin. It then belonged to the estate of [[Farra d'Isonzo|Farra]], held by the [[Patria del Friuli|Patriarchs of Aquileia]]. From 1420 onwards their lands were gradually conquered by the [[Republic of Venice]], annexed and incorporated into the Venetian ''[[Domini di Terraferma]]'' in 1473. The Venetians fortified Gradisca as a bastion against [[Ottoman raids in Friuli|Ottoman raids]], then part of a massive defence line along the Isonzo River relying on plans designed by [[Leonardo da Vinci]].

During the [[War of the League of Cambrai]] against Venice, Gradisca  was conquered by Emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]] in 1511, and thenceforth it was a [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] possession ruled within the [[County of Gorizia]] as part of the [[Inner Austria]]n lands. In 1615 a Venetian attempt to reconquer it initiated the [[Uskok War|War of Gradisca]]. The town was however kept by the Imperial House of Habsburg; in 1647 Emperor [[Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand III]] made it the capital of an autonomous County of Gradisca and sold the territory to his confident John Anthony of Eggenberg. The [[House of Eggenberg|Eggenberg dynasty]], formally elevated to [[Princes of the Holy Roman Empire]] in 1654, held Gradisca until 1717, enlarging and enriching it constantly as a princely residence.

With the extinction of the Eggenbergs, the county returned to the House of Habsburg, being re-united with the remaining County of Gorizia. The union resulted in the creation of the Princely County of [[Gorizia and Gradisca]] in 1754, which existed until the dissolution of [[Austria-Hungary]] in 1918. The town remained in the [[Cisleithania]]n side after the [[Compromise of 1867]] as head of the district of the same name (GRADISCA), one of the 11 ''Bezirkshauptmannschaften'' in the [[Austrian Littoral]] province.<ref>Die postalischen Abstempelungen auf den österreichischen Postwertzeichen-Ausgaben 1867, 1883 und 1890, Wilhelm KLEIN, 1967</ref>

During Austrian domination, the town retained its predominantly Italian character. According to the last Austrian census of 1910, 60.0% of the population of the town spoke [[Italian language|Italian]] or [[Friulian language|Friulian]], 13.8% spoke [[Slovene language|Slovene]], and a mere 2.3% spoke [[German language|German]] as their first language.<ref>http://www.sistory.si/publikacije/prenos/?urn=SISTORY:ID:836 {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref>

In 1914, at the outbreak of [[World War I]], the population of Gradisca fought under [[Austria-Hungary]]. In 1921 the town became part of Italy.

== Main sights ==
* Castle, built by the Venetians in the late 15th century over a pre-existing fortress known from 1176. It was enlarged under the Austrian domination (16th-17th centuries), later being turned into a jail. Among the people imprisoned here was [[Federico Confalonieri]].
* Cathedral
* Church of ''Santo Spirito'', with an altarpiece by [[Pompeo Randi]].

== Notable people ==
* [[Antonio Zucchelli]] (1663–1716), an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, explorer and missionary.
* [[Giordano Colausig]] (born 1940), footballer

== Pictures Gallery ==
<gallery>
Gradisca d'Isonzo castle.jpg|Castle
Gradisca d'Isonzo, Madonna della Porta.jpg|Madonna della Porta
Gradisca d'Isonzo main street.jpg|Main street
Gradisca d'Isonzo, Parco della Rotonda.jpg|Parco della Rotonda
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Gorizia and Gradisca]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline|Gradisca d'Isonzo}}
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Gradisca |volume= XI |last= |first= |author-link= | page=27 |short=1 }}

{{Province of Gorizia}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gradisca D'isonzo}}
[[Category:Gradisca d'Isonzo| ]]
[[Category:Cities and towns in Friuli-Venezia Giulia]]
[[Category:Borghi più belli d'Italia]]