Significance for science
The project covers the cross-border Goriška part of the area, focusing on the less populated part of
the Goriška region covered by the national Trnovo Forest. It was in the middle of this forest, near the
settlements of Lokve, Lazna and Trebuša, that Czech glassblowers settled between 1722 and 1830
and, over a period of almost a hundred years, blew thousands of bottles and other glass products of
both ornamental and utilitarian value. The bottles of the Lokve-Lazna glazes, filled with rosé liqueur
(Rozolia), were shipped in their thousands from Trieste via the port of Trieste to Spain and from there
to India. It is no coincidence that the glazut makers settled in the former Goriška County in the middle
of the then unused Trnovo Forest, because it was there that they found the raw materials they
needed for glass blowing: beech wood (from which they extracted potash) and quartz sand from the
nearby Trebusa River, the main reasons for their stay in the wooded outskirts of Goriška. The link
between the village of Lokve, where the bottles were stored, and the town of Gorizia gave access to
Trieste and the port of Trieste, from where glass products were exported from the Habsburg
Monarchy. Although the glaziers moved within the forest as many as five times within a radius of 5-7
km in their constant search for proximity to raw materials, their exploitation of the forest and
subsequent non-competitiveness ended after a hundred years and they moved out of the area, but
their memory remains rooted in the local population and in the heritage institutions that preserve
their products on both sides of the national border (ERPAC, Musei provinciali di Gorizia, 'The
Provincial Museum of Gorizia'), Tolmin Museum, Gorizia Museum and the National Museum in
Ljubljana), which is also the reason for the cross-border institutional networking and cooperation, as
this would really provide a holistic view of the story of the life and work of the Czech glassblowers,
which would - (1) by researching and a bilingual book (2) a catalogue of preserved glaziers' products,
(3) a three-part cross-border open-air exhibition (in Gorizia, Tolmin and Lokve), (4) with the hosting of
a glass blowers' artistic residency Glass Lokve 2025, and (5) a culinary upgrade (6) new trails in the
forest: some 20 km of new trails will be created in nature, following the footsteps of the glaziers on
the route between Lokve, Lazna,Trebuša, creating a number of footpaths through the area where the
glaziers worked, - link the cross-border area and strengthen the links between the city and the
periphery.
The programme area of the project concerns both the Trnovo Forest area, part of the nature reserve
within it and the Natura 2000 area, as well as the wider Gorizia region, the former historical Gorizia,
especially the town of Gorizia, where the Musei Provinciali di Gorizia preserves the most beautiful
examples of glazier's wares. It is the intersection between the hinterland and the city, between natural
and cultural heritage, which is the focus of the research into the multicultural project of the Hamburg
glass blowers, chech tradition in the former common Gorizia, an area of different cultural and
linguistic contacts, and of the tangible and intangible heritage that has left behind a set of traditions,
handicraft skills, traditional techniques, which represent the common identity of a programme area
with a great potential for cultural and natural heritage tourism, with particular reference to the highly
seasonal tourist destination of the Trnovo plateau, which would link the areas of the former
glassblowers and the town with new routes through the forest.
In order to deseasonalise tourist flows or extend the season, the season in spring and autumn ("dead
season"), is particularly important, which would be diverted from the established tourist flows by
thematic trails "in the footsteps of the glassblowers" and new trails would be introduced on the edge
of historic Goriška, in the Trnovo Forest, once a famous summer and winter destination of Goriška.
Through all these activities, the project will reinforce the three pillars outlined in the Bid Book of the
European Capital of Culture ECoC 2025 of Nova Gorica and Gorizia: Go Share! - because without
cross-border partnership and cross-border research and cooperation, a comprehensive presentation
of the story of the once flourishing craft of glazing would not be possible; Go Green! - is addressed
through the creation of a walking trail and the sustainable use of the Trnovo Forest, an area once
inhabited by glaziers; and Go Europa! is addressed through raising awareness of the concrete
involvement of the glaziers of Gorizia in the wider Europe, from Hamburg through Gorizia to Venice,
the organisation of an international artistic residency and a new cross-border cultural-tourist
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product. With all of the above, the project contributes to the readiness of our area to host the ECoC
2025 and its feasibility.
