Along the Isonzo River

The river Isonzo, or Soča as it is called in the Slovenian language, is really impressive in the so-called Soča Valley where it is like an impetuous young boy always ready to run fast, jump, suddenly change its course and fall from dangerous peaks. Some places look like settings for a fairy tale as Andrew Adamson, the director of The Chronicles of Narnia, said.

The river is one of the most beautiful rivers thanks also to its water, which is so green that its nickname is 'Emerald beauty'
A lot of mountain rivers are green due to the small particles of bedrock suspended in the water, but what is typical of the Isonzo river is the fact that it maintains its colour as fas as its end in the Adriatic Sea.

Simon Gregorčič (1844-1906), one of Slovenia’s best-loved poets, dedicated a poem to the river
in which it describes it this way

...

I like to look into your lively waves, 

These green-blue waves; 

The dark green of highland grass 

And the cheerful azure of the heights 

Have flown together with delight; 

From the dew of the blue skies, 

From the dew of green mountains, 

You have drunk your beauty –

...

An Italian poet, Celso Macor (1925-1998) was also charmed by the colour of its water and wrote 

...

Isonzo, so green and deep ....

...

When it reaches Gorizia, in Italy, it is more like an older and wiser man, much calmer and placid in its regular course but this doesn’t mean it is less beautiful.

The river doesn’t exactly flow through the town but you can see it on its outskirts, when you reach Gorizia from its western part.

It is particularly beautiful at sunset because the vegetation creates a fascinating atmosphere.

There are some parts where you can walk along the river and through the woods and there it is possible to see also a lot of spontaneous flowers which of course change according to the season.

Last weekend during a walk there we saw loads of snowdrops.

The Isonzo River is connected to the Great War and the 12 bloody battles that took place along its banks both in nowadays Slovenia and Italy. There are many places that are memories of those days and again the poet Simon Gregorčič is relevant here because he foretold all this forty years before the war broke out and the events along the river occured.

...

 "A clear arch will stretch above you, 

Around you a hail of lead, 

Rain of blood and streams of tears, 

Lightning and thunder – oh, stifling battle! 

Bitter steel will strike upon these lands, 

And you will flow full of blood: 

Our blood will nourish you, 

The enemy’s will muddy you!" 

...