I am in love with hiking Slovenian trails. Hiking Sabotin hill is one among them.

Width:45,98846°N Length: 13,63465°E

First mentioned in 1370 – almost 650 years ago!

In written sources the hill above Solkan was first mentioned in 1370 as „Saluatin“. Some say that the name derives from „Salbotin“ for which the basis is the latin name „Salvus“ which means healthy.

If I can add – Italians love the salvia or sage (Salvia officinalis) and its culinary use. I have been on Sabotin several times and there are also some places with a lot of sage if you are planning to make something with herbs.

Others claim the name Sabotin is based on Italian word for Saturday – Sabbato. The story goes that the same name was given to a boy who was born on Saturday.

I would suggest the Saturday as the best day to visit the Sabotin hill. It is just not so crowdy as it is on Sundays, that’s all.

Third option, and my favorite, says that name derives from a church on the mountain which is dedicated to Saint Valentine.

What a romantic story … It reminds me of the Heart shaped road.

Strategic position in First World War

With its 609m and its great location Sabotin was of a huge importance for the defensive role for Austro-Hungarian monarchy in First World War. During 1915 and 1916 Austro-Hungarian troops were fighting with Italians for this strategic position.

The Sixth Soca or Isonzo Battle in August 1916 was too much for the defenders. Italian soldiers took Gorizia and nearby situated hill Sabotin and fortify their new high-ground position with system of caves designed like holes in the hill for the artillery positions.

Enough about conflicts, let’s connect!

Sabotin road – main road connection to Brda where you are driving through Italy for a few seconds

Sabotin road on the slopes of Sabotin hill with its new bridge standing just a few yards from the railroad bridge (built in Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1906 with the biggest stone arch in the world) has been connecting Goriška Brda with Solkan for only 30 years now.

Why not before? Let’s go 30 years back.

To reach Brda you had to drive first 12 km up the Soca river stream to the village of Plave, then you would turn left. After crossing the bridge over Soca you should made one last turn on your left and going straight forward for another 10km until you would finally reach Goriška Brda.
This more than 30 minutes long journey was the main gateway for people from Brda who were working in Nova Gorica or in some other towns placed at the Soca river banks.

The new road and the bridge were built between 1980 and 1985 also with the help of Yugoslavian army. 1600m long closed section of the road is actually placed in Italy and was built by Italy like the both governments agreed when signing The Treaty of Osimo on 10th November 1975.

With new road locals, tourists and other visitors can reach Brda region in 15 instead of 30 minutes.

Hope you found this article funny and attractive. Drop me an email to vesna@slocally.com, if you want to pay a visit to Sabotin.

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