The Karst and the Isonzo were the scene of very hard battles during the Great War. On this plateau, the young infantryman Giuseppe Ungaretti was thrown into the trenches of the Karst. There he found in the pauses of the battles the inspiration for his essential verses which he defined “carved into my life as an abyss”. The poems were published as a collection in 1916 under the title “Il Porto Burolto”.

The Ungaretti Park, dedicated to the poet’s war poems, is located within the estate of Villa Veneta where the Castelvecchio Farm operates. Vittorio Sgarbi inaugurated the Park defined it as a “Monument of Contemporary Art”. Gianfranco Trombetta, director and promoter of the Park, takes care of events and publications together with the Friends of the Castelnuovo Association.

The ancient battlefields have now been converted into vineyards and olive groves with tireless human industriousness. During the Great War, the first six battles of the Isonzo were fought on the estate. Also known as the battles of Castelnuovo. The Villa became a hospital for those who could not be transported and a large military camp stood within the woods. On the walls of the halls of the Villa graffiti made by the soldiers are preserved to this date. Vittorio Sgarbi has poetically defined them as the “living tears of the soldiers”.