Center of Peace and good

If you’re looking to just stretch your legs on Sveta Gora, you can take a walk past the basilica, the cemetery, and the TAU Youth Center, ending at Frančiškov hrib, where you’ll find a statue of St. Francis. After about 500 metres of walking (roughly 10 minutes), the peak offers a stunning view.

The 260-metre-long tunnel running through Sveta Gora ends near Frančiškov hrib The entrance is located on the eastern slope, just off the road, at the sharp turn where the 10th station of the Stations of the Cross is situated. The trail through the tunnel is marked and partly equipped with a steel rope and a steel staircase. When walking through the tunnel, be cautious of slippery floors and, in some areas, low ceilings.

It offers an experience reminiscent of that faced by soldiers during the First World War, who found safety in the tunnels while outside, bullets and grenades brought death and destruction. A headlamp is a mandatory part of the equipment. A helmet is also recommended. There are also many caverns and trenches on the slope of Sveta Gora. The “trenches path” leads past them, starting at the 1st station of the Stations of the Cross.

The stone mausoleum of General Gonzaga is located in Vodice and can be seen from Sveta Gora, to the northwest. Near the summit (651m), you’ll find many military trenches and caverns. There is an easy, marked trail from Sveta Gora to Vodice.

Starting from the large car parking lot below the church, follow the steeply descending asphalt road. At Preški vrh, where the path to Plave branches off to the left and towards Grgar to the right, continue straight ahead. After a few steps, turn left onto the marked single-track trail, which begins to ascend. The mausoleum is about a 40-minute walk (approx. 2 km) from Sveta Gora.

If you continue walking from the mausoleum along the wider path, you will reach the Vodice Open Air Museum. Nearby, you’ll find caverns. To return to Preški vrh, follow the wide track that begins at the “Pot miru” information board and gently descends.

If you descend northwest from Sveta Gora to the crossroads at Preški vrh and turn right, you will begin descending towards Grgar and the Slatna stream valley. The spot where the stream is contained by a concrete dam was once a popular bathing area for the youth from Grgar. If you follow the stream up the valley, where several mills once stood, you can cool off in the pools during the summer.

An interesting themed circular trail, Urška Trail (Grgar – Sveta Gora – Grgar), runs along the path from Sveta Gora to Preški vrh and onwards to Grgar (typically in the reverse direction). This trail is dedicated to Urška Ferligoj, a shepherdess to whom Mary appeared on the slopes of Skalnica in 1539.

The Urška Trail, which is 7.9 kilometers long with 380 meters of ascent and 380 meters of descent, starts at St. Martin’s Church in Grgar and ends at the gravestone of Urška Ferligoj, located on the outside of the chancel of the same church. The walk from the church in Grgar to Sveta Gora via Preški vrh takes about an hour and a half, while the descent from Sveta Gora to Grgar, passing by Frančiškov hrib, takes approximately one hour.

The Bor Trail, which begins below Sveta Gora, in Grgar, the birthplace of the poet, playwright, storyteller, essayist and drama critic Vladimir Pavšič – Matej Bor (1913 – 1993), is part of the Slovenian Writers’ Trail. The easy, circular, signposted walking trail, which starts at the birthplace and monument of Matej Bor, takes about an hour to complete.

The Three Shrines Trail is a thematic trail linking three well-known and well-visited pilgrimage sites, Sveta Gora on the edge of the Banjščice plateau, Marijino Celje on the Kanal Kolovrat and Stara Gora (Castelmonte) above Cividale del Friuli. The first two are located in Slovenia, while the third is in Italy.

Climbing the three peaks that rise above Nova Gorica—Sveta Gora (682 m), Sabotin (609 m), and Škabrijel (647 m)—in a single go is a challenge in itself. Some locals even refer to it as the “The Triglav of Gorizia.” The circular trail spans approximately 23 kilometres and includes around 1,500 metres of ascent. The fastest hikers complete it in about 5.5 hours.

Martin’s Cross-Border Circular Trail also passes through Sveta Gora. This 260-kilometre circular route connects Vipava and Aquileia and is part of the Council of Europe’s Saint Martin of Tours Route. The full pilgrimage stretches approximately 2,500 kilometres, from Szombathely in Hungary to Tours in France.

This — the most beautiful of all the routes (:-)) — needs no further introduction, as you’re already on the website where all the details are just a click away.