FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA

Friuli-Venezia Giulia is a special-status region, historically comprising two areas: Friuli (accounting for about 96% of the territory) and Venezia Giulia (making up the rest, as a result of territorial changes made after World War II). The regional capital, Trieste, is one of four administrative provinces: the others are Gorizia, Pordenone and Udine. The region shares borders with Austria, Slovenia, Veneto and the Adriatic Sea. The history of the region includes Aquileia, a Roman colony founded in 181 BC, of which stunning archaeological survivals remain, and, for more than a thousand years, a major religious and administrative centre with its own patriarchate. Then there is Cividale del Friuli, founded by Julius Caesar with the name of “Forum Iulii”, which gave its name to the entire region, and later became the capital of the Lombard Kingdom. And finally there is Udine that became the most important centre in Friuli, and the seat of the patriarchate of Aquileia, starting in the 13th century. Friuli-Venezia Giulia is a borderland and a meeting point of cultures, which live in harmony there. The very active associations of Fogolars Furlans (which translates as “The hearths of the Friulans”) connect Friulans throughout the world by past migration, and perpetuate its deeply felt tradition, starting with the Friulan language. In the Friulan Mountains, Sauris, in the Val Lumiei, is the region’s highest town at 1212 m. Its prosciutto crudo and speck are delicious. The prosciutto crudo of San Daniele, a pretty town on the plain, is internationally renowned. The Piancavallo district, in the province of Pordenone, is a popular ski station and a centre of winter and summer tourism. Piancavallo has welcomed many editions of the Giro del Friuli organised by the passionate Ugo Caon, and a stage of the 1998 Giro d’Italia won by Marco Pantani The hilly Collio, above all along the Slovenian border, produces fine wines, especially white, as well as grappa of the highest quality. The central plain is an area of agriculture and livestock farming, while along the coastline, long, sandy beaches (like the well-known beaches of Lignano, and Grado, with its lagoon) alternate with the magnificent rocky coast around Trieste. The Altopiano del Carso or Karst Plateau, with its distinctive set of phenomena comprising sinkholes, caves, and underground rivers, covers much of the provinces of Gorizia and Trieste. The regional economy developed rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, with the spread of a dense manufacturing infrastructure, and tourism, followed by shopping centres and service-sector businesses. Among the major tourist attractions are Cividale del Friuli, the old town in Gorizia, Gemona, Palmanova, Villa Manin and Cormons, known to Italians as the hometown of Bruno Pizzul, a popular and beloved TV commentator. Trieste, with its history, monuments, culture and commerce, is a paradigm of an open, cosmopolitan city. Udine, with its towering castle, its glorious Duomo, the Loggia del Lionello, the Archbishop’s Palace with frescoes by Tiepolo, and the Palace of the Patriarch attracts tourists from all over the world, every year. Udine University is growing constantly, as is the L. Danieli Science and Technology Park. The smallest province is Gorizia, with its beautiful old town.

Many natural and historical-cultural sites in the region have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage, including the Lombard ruins in Cividale del Friuli, Aquileia, the fortress town of Palmanova (built in 1593), the Dolomites of Friuli, and the prehistoric pile dwellings of Palù di Livenza. Typical dishes in the Carnia area include frico (crisp fried cheese), polenta, brovada (a stew made of turnip and pork), and wild game. Typical sweets include gubana, from the Natisone valleys, made of sweet pastry stuffed with nuts, sultanas, pine nuts, and grappa in a snail-shell shape. Slivoviz is a distilled spirit produced from plums. Friuli-Venezia Giulia is closely tied to the Alpine Corps of the Italian Army, which shares many behavioural traits with the locals, and contributed greatly to the work of reconstruction after the devastating 1976 earthquake. When the Giro d’Italia visits the region, the “Black Feathers”, both those in active service and veterans, bring their expertise to the voluntary groups coordinated by Enzo Cainero who, for years, has harnessed sport to promote the region in concert with the appropriate institutions. His niece Chiara Cainero is an Italian sport shooter who won a gold medal in skeet at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. The region has long produced excellent sportsmen and women, including footballers Ferruccio Valcareggi, Nereo Rocco, Enzo Bearzot, Cesare Maldini and Dino Zoff, to name the very cream. It has produced many top basketball players as well. The world heavyweight champion Primo Carnera (1906-1967) was from the tiny village of Sequals. Nino Benvenuti, Welterweight world champion and 1960 Olympic champion, was from Trieste. The Di Centa siblings Manuela, 1994 Olympic champion at Lillehammer, and Giorgio, twice-Olympic champion at Torino in 2006, are from Friuli. Twice Italian cyclo-cross champion Daniele Pontoni is from Udine.