Associazione Amici Di Castelnuovo I Graffiti Di Villa Della Torre Hohenlohe

Living tears left on the Villa's marmorini by combatants severely wounded in the six battles of the Isonzo during World War I.

Castelnuovo is characterised by the presence of the evocative Hohenlohe Tower Villa positioned to dominate the karst slopes sloping towards the Isonzo near Sagrado. The year of its construction remains unknown, but it is certainly linked to the dynasty of the Hofer Valsassina Tower Counts, nobles of Lombard origin who acquired considerable political and economic power in the Gorizia region from the 13th century onwards.

From June to August 1916, furious fighting took place on the Karst at Castelnuovo. With the seizure of the Frasche trench, the war moved towards San Michele and along the Vallone, but Castelnuovo and its Villa remained a supply post for the advancing troops and a dressing station for the wounded. In the main hall of the Villa, 300 graffiti covered for years under plaster were recovered.

Some are perfectly legible while others are difficult to interpret. They undoubtedly represent a moving testimony that brings to life the identity of those who, through a simple signature, asked to be remembered. 

The graffiti indicate names, surnames, countries and dates of birth, wards to which they belonged, moods, descriptions of battles, drawings and caricatures. Hundreds of years later, the Villa di Castelnuovo lives on as it did then, surrounded by vineyards and its forest of centuries-old oaks and cypresses, witnesses to a life spent amid glories and tragedies.