Nova Gorica

Nova Gorica (pronounced [ˈnɔ̀ːʋa ɡɔˈɾìːtsa] (listen);^[1] population: 13,852 (town); 21,082 (incl. suburbs); 31,000 (municipality))^[2] is a town and a municipality in western Slovenia, on the border with Italy. It has the nickname "The city of roses" (Mesto Rožnic) because of the tradition of rose growing in Rožna Dolina, a suburb of Nova Gorica.

Opening Ceremony of the European Capital of Culture on February 8th 2025,

A view of Nova Gorica

History

After the Yugoslav-Italian border was decided in 1947, the town of Gorizia was left in Italy, thus Northern Primorska (also known as Goriška) was left without a Cultural and Governmental Centre. So the Yugoslav Government decided to build a new town to connect the then separate settlements of Solkan, Šempeter pri Gorici, Vrtojba, Rožna Dolina and Pristava, and give North Primorska a new Centre. The town was planned by slovenian architect Edvard Ravnikar (a pupil of Le Corbusier) and was built by Youth Labour Brigades, in 1952 the Municipality of Nova Gorica was established, incorporating the villages and towns of Solkan, Šempeter, Vrtojba and Rožna dolina into the city. The town grew in the 50s and 60s until reaching it's current size in the 80s.

in 1994 the Towns of Šempeter and Vrtojba split away from Nova Gorica to form the Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba

Since 2011 Nova Gorica, Šempeter-Vrtojba and Gorizia have been in a combined Metropolitan Zone.

The Emblem of the Urban Municipality of Nova Gorica

The city along with it's twin city Gorizia And Chemnitz, was selected to be the 2025 European Capital of Culture