Confcommercio Gorizia continues to invest in storytelling as a vehicle for promoting the city, rich in stories and traditions that increasingly attract a growing number of visitors, thanks in part to GO!2025. A protagonist of the urban regeneration of Borgo Castello thanks to the La Via del BorGO project, Confcommercio Gorizia presents a new issue of the printed periodical produced as part of the PNRR Bando Borghi, dedicated to spring and Easter.
The issue is available free of charge at Bottega del Cappello in Via Rastello 52, the project’s headquarters. This is the fifth issue of “La Via del BorGO,” whose contents are edited by Caterina Trovato, Angelica Stasi, Lodovica Gaia Stasi and Valentina Randazzo. An edition that follows the first four dedicated to the history of Gorizia and Borgo Castello, Gorizia Christmas, the story of fairs and markets of the past and GO!2025.
Monica Paoletich, Director of Confcommercio Gorizia, goes over the topics covered: “The daily tale of the town and the city, which we are promoting together with our project partners, is embellished in this new issue of our free press by anecdotes and curiosities about spring and Gorizia’s Easter traditions. We therefore tell the Easter season as we told Advent, immersing ourselves in tradition, in the customs that marked the festive days and moments of sharing. Leafing through the new issue, readers will find typical recipes and traditions of Gorizia Easter, anecdotes about spring walks
and trivia about the history of Gorizia’s flower trade. The telling of traditions is a cue to experience today’s Gorizia fully and with different eyes, a stimulus that is being embraced by an increasing number of people, both locals and tourists who, thanks to the push of GO!2025, are visiting the city.”
Considering all five issues (in both Italian and English) there are 25,000 copies of the free press produced by Confcommercio Gorizia with the intention of enriching and making the city’s narrative increasingly coordinated. To these must be added the 1,000 printed materials that tell the story of the area’s catering.
From recipes to Easter traditions – Leafing through the issue we find spring and Easter recipes of Gorizia’s tradition: omelet with asparagus, potiza (Easter cake), cherry koch, milk soup and sclòpit, and friar’s braids. But also the customs of old Gorizia during Easter days. For example, during Palm Sunday, Gorizia’s citizens adorned themselves with blessed olive branches. Girls wore it on their chests and young men in their buttonholes. In homes, the previous year’s blessed olive tree was burned and replaced with a new one, placed behind the picture of Our Lady or next to the holy water pillar
. A blessed olive leaf was used in the preparation of pan sporch (strong bread). For the preparation of the traditional cake, they used to stick a blessed olive leaf on top before taking it to the baker’s to roast. This was to prevent it from being confused with the one prepared by other housewives.
Gorizia, the city of gardens – “The BorGO Way” tells how during the 19th century Gorizia had built a reputation as a garden city, a winter health resort, and an “Austrian Nice.” Thus Gorizia became a popular destination for tourists and vacationers: attracted by the mildness of the climate and the beauty of the surrounding nature, many chose to spend long periods of the year in the city, often ending up settling permanently in the splendid villas that can still be admired along Corso Italia and Via Montesanto.
The first flower kiosk in Gorizia – Also in the free press is an in-depth look at the medicines of the warm season, an account of the origins of Easter eggs and their symbolic value, and finally that of the origins of the flower trade in Gorizia. It is precisely this last topic that finds space with the narrative of the birth of the first flower stall in the city, the intuition of floriculturist Andrea Claucig (1846-1930) as a result of the growing demand for fresh flowers for events and decorations by the bourgeoisie in the 19th century.
Where to find the periodical “La Via del BorGO” – The free press is distributed free of charge at the Bottega del Cappello, both in Italian and English, as well as in local accommodations and businesses. The story is also articulated on La Via del BorGO’s social media: the invitation is to take a photo with the newspaper under your arm and tag @laviadelborgo_ on Instagram.
