Carso in Autumn - Photo © Roberto
Romano
Trieste: the Carso History and Culture
In order to trace a breef history of the Carso we have to go back to 178 B.C., year of the first invasion of the area by the Roman legions after brave fights against the Istrians, who then lived in the karst villages named castellieri.
Between 50 and 30 B.C. Tergeste – Trieste became a Roman colony and the area lived a peaceful period. The castellieri became useless and were abandoned, while the centers of what would then become the present karst villages began to flourish. Among these we mention Bagnoli, in a strategic position at the entrance to the Val Rosandra, where the Roman aqueduct that supplied the city of Tergeste with water began.
Vines in Carso - Photo © Roberto Romano
In the area of Aurisina and Sistina there were quarries from which a precious marble was extracted and then used to build many Roman towns (Aquileia among them). Supposedly the Roman period was for the Carso a time of welfare that lasted until the VI-VII century A.D., when the Longobards and the first Slavic tribes invaded the area and reached the Isonzo river. Then came difficult years due to the numerous barbarian invasions, and often the local inhabitants of the Carso were forced to take refuge in the castellieri, whose defensive walls were restored. The places where the castellieri rise still keep the name Tabor (Slavic word meaning fortified places) as that of Monrupino.
During the XV the new karst villages slowly began to rise. The style of the buildings is Roman – Gothic and reveals also an influence of the Veneto region style. They are solid houses with stable, built with limestone and sandstone. They are surrounded by a stone wall and disposed orographically around a small central square where usually there was the well or the water cistern. Also the portals are peculiar: they are of white stone and, in addition to sacred symbols, they also have the building date and sometimes the name of the owner. The main resource of the villages of the region came from cattle breeding and from a poor agricultural production. Handicraft was scarcely developed in Carso and could only meet the local demand.
The Carso became a battleground again during First World War. The area was destroyed by the digging of trenches and bunkers and by the cannonades that ruined both the villages and the surrounding nature. Even Second World War brought destruction back to the Carso. In 1945 it came back to life, confirming the vitality and determination of the inhabitants to love their land.
© 1997-2010 Enrico Massetti
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