Rio Soca, Slovenia, EUROPE
The Soča (in Slovene) or Isonzo (in Italian) (other names Friulian: Lusinç, archaic German: Sontig, Latin: Aesontius or Isontius) is a 138 km (86 mi) long river that flows through western Slovenia (96 kilometres or 60 miles) and northeastern Italy (43 kilometres or 27 miles). An Alpineriver in character, its source lies in the Trenta Valley in the Julian Alps in northwestern Slovenia, at an elevation of 876 metres (2,874 ft). The river runs past the towns of Bovec, Kobarid, Tolmin, Kanal ob Soči, Nova Gorica (where it is crossed by the Solkan Bridge), and Gorizia, entering the Adriatic Sea close to the Italian town of Monfalcone.
Name
The river was recorded in antiquity as Aesontius, Sontius, and Isontius. Later attestations include super Sontium (in 507–11), a flumine Isontio(1028), in Lisonçum (1261), an die Ysnicz (1401), and an der Snicz (ca. 1440). The Slovene name Soča is derived from the form, which was borrowed from Latin (and Romance) Sontius. In turn, this is probably based on the substrate name Aisontia, presumably derived from the PIE root*Hei̯s- 'swift, rushing', referring to a quickly moving river. Another possible origin is the pre-Romance root *ai̯s- 'water, river'.
Attractions
Due to its emerald-green water, the river is marketed as "The Emerald Beauty." It is said to be one of the rare rivers in the world that retain such a colour throughout their length. Giuseppe Ungaretti, one of the greatest Italian poets, describes the Isonzo in the poem "The Rivers."
The Soča inspired the poet Simon Gregorčič to write his best-known poem Soči (To the Soča), one of the masterpieces of Slovene poetry. This region served as a location for the 2008 Disney film Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
The Soča is also well known for its unique trout species Salmo marmoratus (known as the marble trout), which lives in the upper course of the crystal-clear river. This species is endangered due to the introduction of other non-indigenous trout species sometime between World War I and World War II
The Soča is a river 136 km long that descends quickly from its source in Trenta towards the sea.
Its typical green-blue colour does not fade away completely even in Friuli, as if it would tell us that its heart belongs to the mountains and that is where it reveals itself in all its beauty, childhood liveliness and original purity.
Already its birth is turbulent and picturesque;
it springs crystal clear from a dark karst crevice below Velika Dnina and after a short time it descends in a 15 m high waterfall (the source is accessible to visitors along a secured path from the lodge Koča pri Izviru Soče), which breaks at the steep foot and then continues unbridled along its steep way to the valley.
On its journey towards the south over the millennia, the Sočahas broken through the rocky obstacles that were in its way and in some areas created deep gorges that are so narrow in some places that it is impossible to jump across them.
Its typical green-blue colour does not fade away completely even in Friuli, as if it would tell us that its heart belongs to the mountains and that is where it reveals itself in all its beauty, childhood liveliness and original purity.
Already its birth is turbulent and picturesque;
it springs crystal clear from a dark karst crevice below Velika Dnina and after a short time it descends in a 15 m high waterfall (the source is accessible to visitors along a secured path from the lodge Koča pri Izviru Soče), which breaks at the steep foot and then continues unbridled along its steep way to the valley.
On its journey towards the south over the millennia, the Sočahas broken through the rocky obstacles that were in its way and in some areas created deep gorges that are so narrow in some places that it is impossible to jump across them.
For people who live by the Soča, this river has a symbolic meaning - somewhere deep within the human spirit it occupies the place of an immortal memorial, representing natural perfection.
One could measure the depth of its straits and the breadth of its pools;
one can talk about its shades of colours, about its numerous rapids and waterfalls;
but it is difficult to capture in rigid and unmoving words its total presence, which is not represented only by the flow of the water, but by its natural environment as well.
We can simply write that the Soča is beautiful, untouched, pure and perfect in its mountain current.
Visitors have to find out the rest by themselves from wherever they approach the river, be it by kayak or as hikers or observers, or even with the intention of capturing one of its famous Soča trout;
visitors should always bear in mind that they are discovering a part of nature which was given to us to protect and which we have managed to preserve in almost the same state as it was in ancient times.
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