 The
geographical complexity of Friuli-Venezia Giulia -
around eight thousand square kilometres of alps,
limestone plateau, alluvial plain and shelving
coastlands - is mirrored in its social diversity. The
mountainous north is ethnically and linguistically
Alpine; the old peasant culture of Friuli, though now
waning, still gives a degree of coherence to the area
south of the mountains; Udine seems Venetian, and Grado
, slumbering in its Adriatic lagoons,
Byzantine-Venetian; while Aquileia , a few kilometres
north of Grado, is still redolent of its Roman and early
Christian past. And Trieste itself, the regional
capital, is a Habsburg city, developed with Austrian
capital to be the empire's great southern port. In
spirit and appearance it is central European, more like
Ljubljana in Slovenia than anywhere else in the region
with the possible exception of Gorizia.
If one thing unites the different parts of the region,
it's how far removed they are from the conventional
image of Italy, a remoteness that intensifies the
further east you travel. This area has always been a
bridge between the Mediterranean world and central
Europe - that hazy multinational entity which begins,
according to Eric Newby at least, at Monfalcone, north
of Trieste. It has been invaded - sometimes enriched,
often laid waste - from east and west and north, by the
Romans, Huns, Goths, Lombards, Nazis and even the
Cossacks. Venice in its heyday controlled the coast and
plain as far as Udine; Napoleonic France succeeded the
Venetian Republic, to be supplanted in turn by the
Habsburgs. Earlier last century the region saw some of
the fiercest fighting of World War I on the Carso (the
plateau inland from Trieste), where artillery shells
splintered the limestone into deadly shrapnel and the
hills are still scarred with trenches. Vast war
memorials and ossuaries punctuate the landscape: the
bones of 60,000 soldiers lie at Oslavia, near Gorizia;
100,000 at Redipuglia; 25,000 in the Udine ossuary.
There was less loss of life in World War II, but just as
much terror. Fuelled by widespread and long-standing
anti-Slavism, Italian Fascism in Trieste was especially
virulent, and the city held Italy's only death camp. One
of the strangest sideshows of the war was staged north
of Udine: Cossack troops, led by White Russian officers,
made an alliance with the Nazis and invaded Carnia, on
the promise of a Cossack homeland among the Carnian
mountains once the Reich was secure. No more invading
armies have taken this road, but the last border dispute
between Italy and Yugoslavia was not settled until the
1970s, and when neighbouring Slovenia became independent
in June 1991 the border posts with Italy were the scene
of brief but fierce confrontations between Slovene and
Yugoslav troops. Despite Italian fears, however, the
fighting did not spill across the border.
While the Friulani want Italian nationality, they don't
care for the baggage of Italian identity. Respect for
Rome and the government is in short supply, and
enthusiasm for the separatist north Italian "League"
movement has spread from Lombardy in recent years. It is
unlikely that this marks the birth of Friulian
separatism, but there's no doubt that the people here
have their own ways and traditions, fostering a strong
sense of identity. The local dialect, friulano , is
undergoing something of an official revival - many road
signs are bilingual in Italian and friulano , while
studies of the dialect's history and many local variants
are published by the Societą Filologica Friulana in
Udine. (Pier Paolo Pasolini, who grew up in Casarsa,
near Pordenone, wrote his early poetry in friulano .)
Economically the region is in fairly good shape: Udine
and Pordenone are thriving, while Trieste is a focus for
container traffic and is becoming a centre of computer
technology and electronics.
Tourism is growing too. Increasing numbers of visitors,
mostly Italian and German, are discovering places which
almost rival the claims of the neighbouring Veneto, with
none of the crowds or the cynical attitudes to tourists.
Notwithstanding it's post-industrial atmosphere, Trieste
makes a good base for walking trips into the
extraordinary, cave-riven landscape of the Carso, with
the option of a day at one of the purpose-built beach
resorts along the Triestine Riviera - which isn't as
glamorous as it sounds. Udine , with its beautiful
Venetian centre and excellent art collections, is within
easy reach to the north, as is tiny Cividale del Friuli
, which preserves a picturesque historic centre perched
on the gorge of the Natisone, as well as some
fascinating Lombard remains. The archeologically minded
will head straight for Aquileia , however, which has
some of the most important Roman and early Christian
remains in Italy, and is fifteen minutes from the lagoon
resort of Grado , which conceals a tiny early Christian
centre amid the beach hotels. Further north, towards the
Austrian border, the Carnia is struggling to develop
itself as a rival to the Dolomites for skiing and
hiking, though in truth it has little over its neighbour
other than peace and quiet.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT
www.italiamia.com
Back to Regions |
|
