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4: CASE STUDY 1: THE ITALIAN/SLOVENIAN BORDER
least during the latter part of the Cold War period, a well worked out
schedule, agreed by both sides, of when the different patrols were carried
out. That way run-ins could be avoided (Drago Sedmak, 2011, pers. comm.
1 st August).
Mount Sabotino/Sabotin shows the layers of different eras like nowhere
else in the study area. On its southern most point, on what is called Saint
Valentine’s Peak, I find the ruins of a 14th century pilgrimage church run
by Franciscan monks. This church was used for worship until 1782 when it
closed down. After this the church was abandoned and left to ruin. Many of
the walls of the complex were, however, still standing at the start of the First
World War but the fierce battles here accelerated its ruination and little
remained of the pilgrimage church after the troops left. In 1999–2000
excavations were carried out on the site and parts of the former church have
been restored to better demonstrate what it used to look like (Andrej
Malnič, 2011, pers. comm. 5 th August). The border runs through the church
complex leaving the church buildings in Slovenian territory whilst the
monks’ residential premises are located in Italy.
Mount Sabotino/Sabotin was a strategic point during the First World
War as it was part of the Isonzo front, a natural obstacle reinforced by the
Austrians to stop the Italians from reaching the river directly to its east. The
Isonzo/Soča river has its starting point further up in the Alps and runs at
the bottom of the Mount Sabotino/Sabotin before it heads south through
the Italian countryside and eventually finds its way out into the Adriatic sea
near the town of Monfalcone. During the twelve battles of the Isonzo the
Italian army slowly took the mountain into possession. The armies used
natural cave formations in the mountain but also built extensive trench systems
along its ridges, many of these are still visible today. Also the remains
of the pilgrim church was used which can be seen in a cave just underneath
the church which has a reinforced entrance of concrete. Most of the
bunkers located on the mountain date from this period even though a few
of them have been improved for use much later. The Habsburg army’s
defences were often more substantial in their construction, often reinforced
with concrete. This is not surprising as they had more time to construct
their defences in contrast to the Italian army which advanced forward into
enemy territory. The Austrian defences and trenches were, however, often
used by the Italian troops as they had taken over an area. When advancing
the Italian army used many of the trenches and defences that had previously
belonged to their enemy.
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