Gorz

Gorz, a district occupying an area of about 1,146 square miles at the head of the Adriatic between Carinthia to the N., Trieste to the S.E., and Italy to the W., and forming with Gradisca one of the Austrian crown-lands. Limestone rocks violently distorted, subterranean rivers, amongst them being the classical Timavus, and vast forests are the chief physical characteristics of this rugged tract. The vine grows well in the stony soil, and wheat, maize, potatoes, and silk are produced in the alluvial valleys. During the dark ages Gorz was an independent principality or county under the Empire, but in 1500 it lapsed to the House of Hapsburg. The population is mainly Slovenian and Catholic.