Medieval Castle of Gorizia

The Venetian lion that controls the city

My first stop for the Tour was at the Medieval Castle of Gorizia. It was a hot day of August in which I started the #italiagrandsketchingtour, my motorbike tour to discover the beauties of Italy.

Together with a friend we visited the small city of Gorizia that is located on the border with Slovenia and just half an hour drive from Trieste. Nevertheless I have been here only few times and it was great to discover it. Since I never came to the castle before we decided to start sketching from here. Unfortunately we could not go inside because it was closed but hopefully I will be able to go another time.

This city has a crazy history… It was conquered by the Venetian, the Austrian, and partly by the Yugoslavian throughout the centuries and it is hard to keep track.

I decided to sketch the entrance of the castle at the top of the hill with its Venetian lion. My friend told me that it symbolize that it was built in peace time. Do you know why I know it?

Because its book is open, while if the lion has a closed book it was a period of war. Anyway doing my research for the book I couldn’t confirm this story but I decided to write it anyway beacuse it sounds interesting. You can decide if you want to believe it.

Bring home the painting of the
‘Medieval Castle of Gorizia’

This painting is part of the Italia Grand Sketching Tour Collection and featured in my books about the tour. It includes a series of almost 200 ink and watercolor paintings done on location during my tour by motorcycle to discover the marvelous Italian heritage.

Painting Information:

Watercolor and ink on white watercolor paper
Professional grade colors
Signed on the front by the artist
Size 19 x 28.5 cm (7.5 x 11.2 inches)
Shipped in a box
Certificate of authenticity will be sent with the painting
This painting is featured in the first volume of my book Italia Grand Sketching Tour.