Monte Ermada, also known as Hermada () is a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

on the

Karst Plateau The Karst Plateau or the Karst region (, ), also locally called Karst, is a karst plateau region extending across the border of southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the val ...

, near the border between the Italian provinces of

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, ...

and

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 ...

. Most of it is located in the municipality of

Duino-Aurisina Duino-Aurisina (; , also ; ) is a (municipality) in the regional decentralization entity of Trieste, in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Lying near the border with Slovenia, it has a substantial Slovene minority. Duino-Aurisina is ...

, with its eastern appendages 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 ...

n territory. It consists of a

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

with several peaks: besides the main peak, which stands 323 meters above sea level, there are Jastreb (289 m), Goljak (278 m), Grižnik (225 m), Vrh Griže (280 m), Cocco/Na Kokem (280 m), Frščak (235 m), Ter (281 m), Gabrnjak (297 m), Dosso Petrinia/Veliki Škrnjak (201 m), Dosso Petrinia inferior/Mali Škrnjak (167 m), Lisičji Vrh (294 m) and the isolated Castelliere di Ceroglie/Ostri Vrh (215 m). Small valleys, carsic swamps and

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

s are located between the peaks. The small village of Cerovlje, a hamlet of Duino-Aurisina, is located at the foot of the Ermada. Archaeological finds have shown that pre-historic settlements existed on the top of the Ermada. During the

First World War 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 ...

, the Ermada was one of the main

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

bulwarks for the defense of

from September 1916 onwards; heavily fortified with multiple orders of trenches, tunnels, barbed wire and machine gun posts, it was repeatedly assaulted by the

Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

during the later

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 ...

, but never taken. Streets named after the Ermada, in commemoration of the battles of the First World War, exist in many Italian cities. Today the Ermada is an

open-air museum An open-air museum is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts outdoors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is "the unconfined atmosphere ... outside buildings" ...

References

{{reflist Landforms of Friuli-Venezia Giulia Karst Mountains of the Alps Hills of Italy Military history of Italy during World War I