Cycle and footpath Giordano Cottur (6)

Trieste - Bottazzo/Botač - Draga - Kozina (12 km)

(approx. 6/7 hours by foot, suitable for all, the path can be started at different points along the route)

One of a kind, as it leads to the Val rosandra - Dolina Glinščice and uncontaminated nature starting right from the centre of Trieste. On foot or by bike, it is an easy route suited to anyone, reaching as far as Kozina or stopping at Bottazzo - Botač.

The route follows the old Trieste - Hrpelje railway (Erpelle) which ran from 1887 to 1959 and was dismantled in 1966. The railway was built in just 20 months, employing 2,600 workers from 1885 to 1886 paid for by the Austro - Hungarian government, and linked Trieste to the Transalpine railway which in turn linked Istria to Gorizia, then on up to the heart of the then Austro - Hungarian Empire. Currently, although often used for the purposes, many of the original stations and railway structures have been preserved, such as the tunnels dug into the rock, making the route an interesting one also in term of industrial archeology.

From November to March each year at S. Antonio in Bosco - Boršt station up to 8 wagons of wine were offloaded every day. After the First World War the wine trade ceased, but traffic with istria increased, losing all economic interest after the Second World War and the establishment of the new state border.