The Emerald River
iStock/Robert Pavsic
Inspired by the real-life Soča River, the Emerald River is an untamed beauty that is as old as time itself. With its picturesque gorges and pools, and crystal-clear waters that boast beautiful hues of emerald and turquoise, its captivating beauty cannot help but evoke feelings of magic and mystery. It is a feast for the eyes, a euphony for the ears, and food for the soul.
The Emerald River draws its inspiration from the real-life Soča River, one of the most beautiful and pristine rivers in Europe. It is one of the few rivers in the world that retains a beautiful emerald hue for its entire length. The 138-kilometre-long river originates from an ethereal karst source located in the Trenta Valley at the foot of the Julian Alps in northwestern Slovenia. It enters the Adriatic Sea in the Gulf of Trieste, close to the Italian town of Monfalcone.
The Soča River was immortalized in the poem V Soči (“To The Soča”) written by the famous Slovene poet Simon Gregorčič. Published in 1879, the poem is dedicated to the river that he grew up alongside. Such is its stature in Slovenia that all schoolchildren are required to memorise this poem¹. The second and third stanzas are shown here alongside the right. Many believe that the final stanzas of the poem foretell the events of World War One, when the crystal-clear waters of the Soča would be replaced by blood that ran knee-deep².
During World War One, the Soča (Isonzso: Italian) Front was a series of 12 battles between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies between June 1915 and November 1917. It was one of the bloodiest frontlines with approximately 1.5 million casualties. The novel A Farewell to Arms by American writer Ernest Hemingway was based on his personal experiences as an ambulance driver for the Red Cross on the Soča Front.
“Poetry of nature, nature of poetry,” MMC RTV SLO, 19 November, 2016, https://www.rtvslo.si/news-in-english/poetry-of-nature-nature-of-poetry/407587
Christopher Clark, “The White War,” The Ever Widening War, BBC Radio 4, 13 January, 2016, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06wc8fd
“Casualties on the Isonzo Front,” 100letprve, Government Communication Office, accessed 16 November 2022, http://www.100letprve.si/en/mejniki/the_isonzo_front/casualties/index.html
“Your course is lively and gentle
Like the walk of highland girls,
You are serene as the mountain air,
You are loud as the vigorous
Chant of the highland youth –
You are splendid, lucid daughter of the heights.
I like to look into your lively waves,
These green-blue waves;
The dark green of highland grass
And the cheerful azure of the heights
Have flown together with delight;
From the dew of the blue skies,
From the dew of green mountains,
You have drunk your beauty –
You are splendid, lucid daughter of the heights.”