Frančiškanski samostan Kostanjevica

About the museum

The Church of the Annunciation and the monastery were built in 1623 by Count Matija Thurn on a hill above today’s Nova Gorica, right next to the Slovenian–Italian border. The Carmelites looked after the spiritual centre for 134 years; in 1811 Kostanjevica was assigned to the Franciscans, who still run it today. In the First World War the church was destroyed, and it was restored by 1929. Since 1985 the area has had the status of a cultural monument, and in 2024 the monastery was declared a cultural monument of national importance.

In the tomb beneath the presbytery rest the last members of the French royal Bourbon family, who were driven out of France by the July Revolution of 1830. Charles X died of cholera on 6 November 1836, seventeen days after arriving in Gorizia, and is buried in the church. In sarcophagi of Karst marble rest also his eldest son Louis XIX with his wife, and Henry V, the last member of the French Bourbon branch.

The monastery’s Škrabec Library has its origins in the 16th century and can be visited by prior arrangement. A guided tour of the church, the tomb, the rose garden and the library is also possible by prior arrangement.

Highlights

• Tomb of the last French Bourbons (Charles X)
• Škrabec Library with incunabula and Bohorič’s grammar
• Rose garden
• Church from 1623 with stuccoes and paintings

Operated by

Frančiškanski samostan Kostanjevica

Admission & discounts

The price list is valid from 1 January 2025; VAT is included.

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