The Kostanjevica Monastery with

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

Church stands on a -tall hill dividing 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 ...

and the settlement of Pristava. It is located in

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 ...

just from the Italy–Slovenia border. It is the burial place of

Charles X of France Charles X (Charles Philippe; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother of reigning kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported th ...

and his family.

History

In 1623 a small

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

sanctuary was erected just outside the limits of the town of

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

. In the next hundred years, a monastery was built next to the church, and the monastic chapel became an important site for pilgrims from

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

and the

region. In 1781, the monastery was disbanded by Emperor Joseph II. In 1811, the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friars acquired the abandoned complex, re-establishing the monastery. Among other things, they brought a notable library containing some 10,000 books, which they transferred from the nearby Sveta Gora Monastery. Today, the library is named after Father Stanislav Škrabec, a renowned Slovene

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

from the 19th century who lived and worked in the monastery for more than 40 years. The Kostanjevica Monastery was severely damaged in the

Battles of the Isonzo The Battles of the Isonzo (also known as the Isonzo Front by historians, or the Soča Front - ) were a series of twelve battles between the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I mostly on the territory of present-d ...

during

World War I 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 restored between 1924 and 1929. Until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the monastery was part of the town of

. In 1947, the border between Italy and

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 ...

was set just a few hundred meters west of the monastery, and Kostanjevica became part of the newly established town of

The crypt

In the 19th century, the crypt of the Franciscan monastery was used for the burial of members of the French

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

who went into exile after the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

. Most of them had settled in Gorizia, then part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, in the 1830s. Those buried in the crypt are:

References

Kostanjevica Monastery official site

External links

Franciscan Monastery of Kostanjevica - Nova Gorica, Slovenia

Flickr image
{{Coord, 45, 57, 0.78, N, 13, 38, 10.38, E} Charles X of France Henri, Count of Chambord Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême 1811 establishments in the Austrian Empire Christian organizations established in 1811 Christian monasteries established in the 19th century Italy–Slovenia border Franciscan monasteries in Slovenia Christian monasteries in the Slovene Littoral Christian monasteries in Slovenia Burial sites of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine Burial sites of the House of Bourbon (France)