Description
Valvasone was built near a ford on the Tagliamento, which was passable for most of the year. It was the most southerly passage, before the lower plain, where the river’s flow is greatest. The ford had a strong strategic value over the centuries, so much so that it was here that Napoleon fought a famous battle against the imperialists.
The name Valvasone derives from the Germanic terms wal (high ground) and waso (meadow). The first evidence of the existence of a castle is a document from 1206. The fortress and the surrounding lands were a fief of the Patriarchs of Aquileia, who held vast territories on both banks of the Tagliamento River. The Patria del Friuli gave Valvasone in administration to various noble families; the last of these was the Valvason-Cuccagna family. The village developed around the castle, which was later surrounded by walls. Valvasone came under Venetian rule in 1420, like other patriarchal possessions in Friuli.
Among the most important historical events that affected the village and its territory were the sacking of the Turks in 1499 and the Battle of the Tagliamento in 1797: on 16 March, near the ancient ford, Napoleon with 40,000 soldiers defeated the Austrian troops and slept in the castle in the evening. In addition to Napoleon, the manor has hosted other historical figures: Pope Gregory XII in 1409 and Pope Pius VI in 1782. Damaged and renovated several times, it currently has the appearance of a Renaissance palace. Thanks to recent restoration work – the 1976 earthquake caused serious damage, including the collapse of the roof – inside, it is possible to admire a precious 18th-century small theatre surrounded by a splendid older frieze dating back to the end of the 16th century. In another room, frescoes dating back to the second half of the 14th century have been brought to light, depicting a rare chivalric genre cycle. Around the castle, every first weekend in September, the historical re-enactment ‘Middle Ages in Valvasone’ takes place, attracting over 40,000 people to the village.
Various cobbled streets with beautiful buildings, all carefully restored after the earthquake, branch off in the old core. The Piazza Libertà is a large, almost circular space surrounded by ancient porticoed buildings where the Cathedral of the Most Holy Body of Christ, with its characteristic neo-Gothic façade, is located. The sacred building owes its name to the relic of the miracle of the Holy Tablecloth preserved in it. Inside is a precious monumental organ, the only example in Italy of 16th-century Venetian organ-making art, embellished with paintings by Pordenone and Pomponio Amalteo.
A little further on is the Church of Saints Peter, Paul and Anthony Abbot, which was once a hospice for pilgrims and wayfarers. It contains valuable 16th century frescoes and a 17th century portative organ. Also worth seeing is the cloister of the former Servite Convent, built in the 15th century and today partly rebuilt on the ancient foundations.
Characteristic is the Borgo delle Oche (Village of Geese), located to the north of the old core: on the road leading from the castle to this rural complex is the old mill, which once used water from the nearby moat.