Foiba di Basovizza/Šoht, Trieste

The so-called "foiba" of Basovizza is an artificial cavity located in Basovizza, in the municipality of Trieste, in the northeastern part of the Karst plateau at an altitude of 377 meters. A mine shaft more than 200 meters deep and about 4 meters wide, during the final stages of World War II it became a place of summary executions for prisoners, military, police and civilians, by Yugoslav communist partisans, first destined for internment camps set up in Slovenia and later killed at Basovizza. In memory of all the victims of the massacres a memorial was built on the area. In 1992 Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro declared the well a national monument.