Aurisina (until 1923 ''Nabresina'', ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

part of the

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

of Duino-Aurisina (Slovene: ) near

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, in a region of Slovene minority. It lies 15 kilometres northwest of Trieste, and according to the 2003 census had a total of 2,406 inhabitants, 60% of them Slovenes.

Overview

The town of Aurisina was inhabited in the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

because of a nearby

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

with a well-known

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, called Aurisina marble, used to build Roman Aquileia. The settlement was first mentioned as Lebrosina in 1308, and it grew in importance as the

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

-Trieste railway was built in 1857. The world wars devastated Aurisina. Many Slovene people, including educated persons, escaped to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

during fascist rule. Before and during World War II, the Italian fascist regime and later the German Nazi regime deported many inhabitants to

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

s throughout Europe. After World War II, Aurisina, together with Trieste, became part of the Free Territory of Trieste. When this entity was disbanded in 1954, it was annexed to Italy. The settlement lies on top of the Karst Plateau, where the cliffs descend to the sea. Its elevation is 143 m. Around the village there are four rises named ''Ojstri vrh'', ''Gradec'', Mount Babiza (, , 197 m), and Mount Berciza (, {{langx, sl, Brščice, 219 m). Aurisina has typical karst architecture with houses made of limestone. The old village stands around a church dedicated to Saint Roch. Aurisina is the birthplace of the Slovenian poet Igo Gruden and the marine biologist Miroslav Zei. The Galician linguist Florian Biesik spent the last decade of his life in the village.

Overview

See also