Military Watchtower
The military watchtower is situated in Vrtojba, next to the former Italian-Yugoslavian state border. It was built by the Yugoslavian Army in 1948 and was used to oversee the border up until 1991. In 2006, Goriški muzej turned it into a small memorial museum, the smallest of its kind in Slovenia. It shows an exhibition about what life was like next to the new state border demarcated in 1947, which divided the previously unified cultural, social, economic and political territory of the Goriška region into two parts. A breathtaking view from the tower reveals the surroundings, which used to be under strict supervision, especially during the Cold War. On the initiative of Goriški muzej, the Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba declared the military watchtower a site of national cultural importance and saved it from ruin.
ANNOUNCEMENT: The Millitary Watchtower will be temporarily closed to visitors due to renovation.
At the European Museum of the Year Award competition (Dublin, EMYA 2008), the Regional Museum Goriški muzej received a quality recognition award for this museum collection and was shortlisted.