Park Vila Rafut

Rafut Park with the Villa

The park complex at the foot of Rafut Hill represents unique natural and cultural heritage, not just in Slovenia but also in Europe. It is a salient element of the common identity of the inhabitants of the cross-border area, closely intertwined with their life and daily practices. It speaks of the development of Gorizia and its involvement in the course of world history, of the fate of the Alexandrian women, and of the architect Anton Laščak.

The name Rafut is most likely derived from the German version of the word 'Raffholz' (meaning 'fallen branches'), as the inhabitants of Gorica gathered firewood in the nearby Panovec forest and transported it past the hill to the town.

Rafut Park was landscaped in the second half of the 19th century. At that time, some rare, exotic plant species were planted on the approximately 3-hectare area of Rafut hill, which can still be found in the park today.

The eastern part of the park was bought in 1907 by the Gorizian architect Anton Lašcak, better known by his Italian name Antonio Lasciac. Between 1909 and 1914, he remodeled the area and built on it an unusual villa designed in a neo-oriental style.

The picturesque path to the Lasciac’s Villa starts at the stylistically equally interesting gatehouse and winds its way up through the park, gradually revealing a unique complex with an oriental touch.

Owing to the special microclimate, shelter from the Burja wind, flysch soil and water stream, several exotic species thrive here, found nowhere else in Slovenia. Some of the shrub plants, including laurels, cherry laurels and rhododendrons, have grown to the size of mighty trees due to the favourable conditions. The local cork oak is even the oldest known oak of its kind on Slovenian soil. Most numerous are cypresses, false cypresses and cedars.

The park offers orderly paths, stairs and retaining walls, as well as lookout points, benches and information content …