The Friuli-Venezia Giulia It is a region with a special statute of theNorth-eastern Italy. The double name immediately identifies it as one of those regions with a complex and heterogeneous identity, whose territory is made up of historically and culturally distinct areas. The FriuliIn fact, it corresponds roughly to the territories of Pordenone, Udine and Gorizia, which occupy most of the central and western area of the region. There Venice Giuliaon the other hand, corresponds to the thin strip of land that runs between Slovenia and the Adriatic Sea. It is the most eastern region of northern Italy, has an area of 7936.83 km2 and a population of 1,194,616 inhabitants. Friuli-Venezia Giulia is truly a region with a multifaceted personality, both from a territorial point of view (it includes alpine reliefs, hilly bands, plains, lakes, rivers, coasts …) both from a cultural point of view. Its border position, in fact, has characterized it for centuries, if not even millennia, as a land of passage, exchange and encounter between Mediterranean, slave and Germanic influences.
The 10 curiosities on Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Because Friuli-Venezia Giulia has two names
Friuli-Venezia Giulia is divided into Two different historical-geographic regions: The Friuli, which includes most of the territory and incorporates the plains Friulian and the findings of the subsections of the Alps Carnic and of Alps Giulieand the Venezia Giulia Italian, which develops as a narrow coastal band in the territory of Trieste; In the Friuli The current provinces of Udine, Pordenone and, only in part, Gorizia, while the Venezia Giulia It was formed by the province of Trieste and from the remaining part of the province of Gorizia. The name Friuli has ancient origins: it derives from Latin Iulii Forumwith which the Romans identified a military settlement, a Castrumhigh from Giulio Cesare a forum (i.e. market) and which corresponded to what would later become the Municipality of Cividale del Friuli. The toponym Iulii Forum It was then contracted in the following centuries until it becomes, in fact, Friuli. There Venezia Giulia Italian is characterized by the presence of Karsta limestone plateau that extends between Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Slovenia and Croatia. The name Venezia Giulia was born much later than that of Friuli, to be precise in 1863, coined by the Gorizian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli. However, this term also has Roman origins: “Venice“Derives from the toponym with which the Romans identified the Region Venetia et Histria (in turn called this because inhabited by the people of the Venetians); “Giulia“It refers to the Julian Alps, whose name derives in turn from gens iuliathe family to which Julius Caesar belonged.
It is one of the smallest Italian regions
By surface, Friuli-Venezia Giulia is one of the smallest Italian regions: it extends in fact on a territory of about 7936.83 km2. With a population equal to 1,194,616 inhabitantsis a density of 151 inhabitants For square kilometer (therefore below the national average of 195 inhabitants per square kilometer). Given its nature as a borderland and the varied cultural and linguistic identity, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia are talking well Four official languages: Italian, Friulian, Slovenian and German.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia has no provinces
Friuli-Venezia Giulia It is not divided into the provincessince, with the regional law n. 21 of 29 November 2019, the entire regional surface was divided into four Regional decentralization bodies (EDR), which correspond roughly to the territory of the four former provinces. In particular:
- theEdr Gorizia It includes 138 186 inhabitants divided into 25 municipalities;
- theEdr Pordenone includes 311 394 inhabitants divided into 50 municipalities;
- theEdr Trieste It includes 228 395 inhabitants divided into 6 municipalities;
- theEdr Udine It includes 516 922 inhabitants divided into 134 municipalities.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia is a special statute region, which means that it has a certain autonomy in making decisions concerning its territory. The choice to establish the EDRs is aimed at one Simplification of the administrative and bureaucratic apparatus With a view to an optimization of resources and a more efficient coordination between the different territorial realities of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
The highest bell tower in Italy
In the small town of Mortegliano (Udine), next to the archpriestical cathedral of the saints Pietro and Paolo, stands the homonymous bell tower which with its height of Ben 113.20 mis the highest bell tower in Italy. It was designed after the second post -war period by the architect Udinese Peter Zaniniin charge of replacing the old bell tower of Mortegliano: the construction began on May 4, 1956 and ended on 22 August 1959. The consecration and inauguration took place in September of the same year. Unlike the style neo -Gothic of the nearby Cathedral, the bell tower was made by preferring more modern forms who gave birth to a single building, based on 8 faces and an imposing external and sight supporting structure.
The Karst and karst
In the south-eastern part of the region, close to the borders of Italy, Slovenia and Croatia is found theCorsa plateau. The rocks limestone of the territory are soluble, especially fromcarbonic acid dissolved in water: the action of atmospheric agents, rain and surface scrolling of the water in the first place, they deeply shape the landscape by creating caves, doline, I swallow And rivers underground. This chemical process of dissolution leads the water to filter deeply in the subsoil and determines a dry and arid environment on the surface, in which only particularly resistant plants manage to survive. The Karst is one of the most representative areas of this geological phenomenon, which from here takes the name of karst.
Palmanova, the star -shaped city
A few kilometers south of Udine there is a truly unique city which, thanks to its singular conformation, won the nickname “starry city“. We are talking about Palmanovaa fortress city founded by the Venetians at the end of the 16th century whose plant is just like a nine -pointed polygon. Palmanova was carried out in 1593 on the basis of a project designed and by a team of engineers of the Serenissima Republic of Venice To consolidate the presence in the territory of the current Friuli-Venezia Giulia against the Ottoman incursions and the growing influence of the Habsburg House. This inhabited center, which today has just over 5,000 inhabitants, is considered an exemplary model of military architecture in the modern age and is included in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Site Under the hat of the “Venetian defense works between the 16th and 17th centuries: State from Earth-State from Western Sea”.
The Vajont dam
Near Pordenone, on the border between Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia there is the Vajont dam. This imposing barrier, high 261.60 m (which still makes it today one of the highest dams in the world), is sadly known for the Vajont disaster of 1963, when part of the Monte Toc side lapped in the artificial basin causing an exonation that overwhelmed and destroyed the villages of the valley floor and caused almost 2000 victims. Despite the dramatic story, the Dam resisted the strong stresses And it still exists today as a monument to memory: the area can be visited through guided paths that tell its history and tragedy, with its causes and consequences. After the disaster, the dam is no longer in operation for the production of electricity and the basin has been completely dried up.
The Mummies of Venzone
In 1647, during the expansion works of the Venzone Cathedral (Udine) A body dating back to the fourteenth century very well preserved and called “Gobbo” because of its physiognomy was found. During further excavations, carried out in the following centuries and in the same location, about forty bodies of people who lived in different eras were brought to light. There would seem to be anything particularly curious, if it were not for the fact that these corpses, real mummieswere found in one State of conservation really out of the ordinary. This condition is due to one mummification occurred for natural causes: It seems that the particular environmental and climatic conditions of the place have favored the proliferation of the mushroom HYPHA Bombycina which would have affected the decomposition bodies by depriving them of all the humidity in a short time. This sort of “drying” that occurred by biological would have allowed a natural mummification of the bodies.
The longest grissino in the world
Although the breadstick It is a gastronomic specialty usually (and rightly) associated with the Piedmontese tradition, we find the longest record in the world in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In 2019, in fact, precisely in this region, 40 people worked for several hours a dough of across 100 kg which was then cooked with the use of a mobile oven. The breadstick, long 116.55 mafter being examined by a judge of Guinness World Recordwas served with beyond 60 kg of San Daniele hamthe famous Regional Raw DOP, which together with the Fricoa potato and cheese pie with a crunchy crust outside and a soft heart, represents one of the delicacies of the region.
The invention of the confetti
THE confettijust as we know them today, that is, pieces of colored paper to be launched during the carnival, seems to have been designed in 1876 by the engineer and inventor Triestino Ettore Fenderlknown for his patents in the industrial field and for studies on radioactivity. It seems that Fenderl, in the absence of the money to buy the typical Gesso confetti Then in use, he cut out paper triangles to launch on the street from the window of his home. According to him, the thing would not have been appreciated by passers -by, who would instead invoke the intervention of the police for the seizure of the annoying confetti. However, there would also be the Milanese to claim the authorship of modern confetti Enrico Mangiiwhich had the idea of using the paper waste deriving from the litterie used in the breeding of silkworms.
