Podgora, also known in Italian as Monte Calvario and in Slovene as Kalvarija, 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 ...

west 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 ...

, on the right bank of the Isonzo, with an elevation of 241 meters above sea level. Due to its commanding position over the Isonzo valley and the Gorizia plain, it was the theatre of bitter fighting 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 ...

, from June 1915 to August 1916. Along with Sabotin and San Michele, Podgora was one of the main bulwarks of the Austro-Hungarian defense of Gorizia during the early

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 ...

, being heavily fortified with multiple orders of

trench A trench is a type of digging, excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale (landform), swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or trapping ...

es,

barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...

and machine-gun posts. The Podgora was repeatedly attacked by Italian troops in June 1915, before and during the

First Battle of the Isonzo First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, without success, and in July, before and during the Second Battle of the Isonzo, when a regiment of

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign poli ...

managed to make some gains. Further advance occurred in October 1915, during the Third Battle of the Isonzo, and in November, during the

Fourth Battle of the Isonzo The Fourth Battle of the Isonzo was fought between the armies of Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary on the Italian Front in World War I, between 10 November and 2 December 1915. Overview In contrast to the previous three battles ...

. The summit was finally captured by the "Casale" Infantry Brigade on 8 August 1916, during the

Sixth Battle of the Isonzo The Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, better known as the Battle of Gorizia, was the most successful Italian offensive along the Soča () River during World War I. Background Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf had reduced the Austro-Hungarian forces alo ...

; Gorizia fell shortly thereafter.Brigata Casale
/ref>

References

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