Singer-songwriter Tish grew up on the border of Europe's first-ever borderless Capital of Culture. Here are her picks, from underground jams at Mostovna to Fabrika's famous burgers. Nova Gorica is one of Slovenia's (and Europe's) youngest cities, but it's grown up fast.
Since Slovenia's entry into the EU in 2004, it's become a showpiece for Slovenia's rich artistic tradition stretching from ancient artisanal crafts to master Slovene Impressionists Ivana Kobilca and Franc Berneker to today's thriving contemporary arts scene. The planned city was founded in 1947 after the Paris Peace Treaty established the border between Italy and the former Yugoslavia, restricting travel between the two nations. With the Italian city of Gorizia, a regional centre since the Middle Ages, suddenly off-limits to Yugoslavs, the Socialist Yugoslavian government envisioned Nova Gorica (New Gorizia in Slovenian) as a modernist city to cement a new, postwar identity.
For decades, the two cities lived on either side of a tumultuous border; steps apart but worlds away. Now, united as the 2025 EU Capital of Culture , Nova Gorica and its sister Italian city Gorizia stand as "the European capital of borderless culture". Having these two places, so long separated, share this distinction is a testament to a collaborative future.
And Nova Gorica itself – nestled in the idyllic Vipava Valley, famed for its wineries – has become particularly known for its unique combination of modern artistic edge and small-.