Nabrežina

Nabrežina (Italian: Nabresina, renamed in 1927 as Aurisina) is a town in the karst part of the comune of Duino-Aurisina (Slovene: Devin-Nabrežina) near Trieste in a region of Slovene minority in the Free Territory of Trieste. It lies 15 kilometres north-west from Trieste and has a total of 2406 inhabitants (2003), according to the census 60% of them Slovenes.

Overview

The town of Nabrežina was inhabited in the Roman era because of nearby quarry with a well-known limestone in fact called the marble of Nabrežina, needed to build Roman Aquileia. The settlement was firstly mentioned as Lebrosina in 1308, and it grew in importance as the railway Vienna-Trieste was built in 1857. The world wars have devastated Nabrežina. Many of Slovene people including educated persons escaped to Yugoslavia during fascism. Before and during World War II, Italian fascist and later German Nazi regime deported many inhabitants to the concentration camps throughout Europe. After World War II, Nabrežina together with Trieste became part of the Free Territory of Trieste, and as this entity was disbanded in 1954, it eventually was once more annexed to Italy and is still suffering the aging and decrease of Slovene inhabitants.