The best running trails around Hrpelje-Kozina

The Giordano Cottur cycle path is a route of about 12 kilometers that connects the center of Trieste to the Karst plateau, following the track of the disused Trieste-Kozina railway. Starting from the San Giacomo district, the route climbs with a constant and gentle gradient, crossing tunnels dug into the rock and spectacular viaducts that offer dizzying views of the Val Rosandra. Along the way, the landscape quickly changes from an urban environment to Mediterranean scrub, until it reaches the white limestone of the Karst. After passing the Draga Sant’Elia station, the trail crosses the Slovenian border, becoming a symbol of cross-border union. It is a much-loved green artery for leisure, capable of blending industrial archaeology and wild nature.

The Italian-Slovenian border along the Giordano Cottur cycle path represents one of the most symbolically charged points of the entire route. Located at an altitude of about 400 meters, near the old station of Draga Sant’Elia, the crossing is today marked by a simple change in paving and the presence of historic stone border markers, which once separated two worlds and now unite two European nations. In this section, the path leaves Italy to enter Slovenia towards the inhabited area of Mihele, continuing then in the direction of Kozina. The crossing takes place in a natural setting of rare beauty, where the white rock of the Karst frames a panorama that opens onto the underlying Rosandra Valley. What was once a guarded crossing point, full of geopolitical tensions, is today a corridor of peace, freely passable, where the remains of the old Habsburg railway serve as a physical link between the border communities.

Located behind Trieste, Val Rosandra is a unique nature reserve where the homonymous stream has carved the only deeply incised valley of the Trieste Karst. The landscape is dominated by rugged limestone cliffs, white scree slopes, and vegetation that blends Mediterranean and continental species. Famous for its 36-meter-high waterfall, the valley is a sanctuary of biodiversity and history: it hosts the remains of a 1st-century AD Roman aqueduct and the ancient church of Santa Maria in Siaris. A prime location for Trieste's mountaineering, its cliffs were the school of Emilio Comici. Between arduous trails and views of the Gulf, Val Rosandra represents a concentration of wild nature and millennia-old testimonies, suspended between the Karst plateau and the Adriatic Sea.

The crossing of the Italo-Slovenian border along the Val Rosandra cycle path, which follows the route of the old Trieste-Kozina railway, is one of the most symbolic points of the entire route. Inaugurated in 1887 to connect the Habsburg port to the internal railway network, the line was decommissioned in the 1960s, making way for a trail that crosses breathtaking natural scenery. The border is located shortly after the town of San Giuseppe della Chiusa, near the old station of Draga Sant'Elia. Today, the crossing is marked by simple border stones and information signs, but the thrill of crossing the line between Italy and Slovenia, immersed in the white limestone of the Karst, remains unchanged. Cycling or walking through the tunnels carved into the rock and the viaducts that overlook the scree slopes of the nature reserve, one can perceive how this route, once a barrier between opposing blocs, has become a corridor of friendship and recreation.

Beautiful former railway, always, today restored at the bottom offers splendid views of the Val Rosandra.

Many Italian churches are dedicated to the Virgin Mary and thus bear "SANTA MARIA" (occasionally elevated to "SANTISSIMA") in their name. This church has the suffix "IMMACOLATA," meaning it is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. This term, which may sound somewhat theoretical and difficult to grasp today, expresses the idea that the Virgin Mary was, from the very beginning, freed by God's grace from the burden of original sin—which every human being otherwise carries. This enabled her to freely answer "yes" when the Archangel later announced to her in Nazareth that she would give birth to the Son of God. In 1854, Pope Pius IX declared this dogma. The feast day commemorating this occasion—and also the patronal feast of this church—which in Catholic liturgy is officially called the "Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary," is celebrated annually on December 8th.

Honestly one of the nicest views you'll find in the area, and a great spot to watch the sunset.

the views along the old railway on the Val Rosandra are always spectacular