Palmanova (Palme in Friulian) is an Italian town of 5,447 inhabitants in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Fortress city planned by the Venetians in 1593, it is called the "star city" for its polygonal star plan with 9 points. Since 1960 the historic city has been a national monument, while from 9 July 2017 the fortress of Palmanova became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the transnational serial site Venetian Defense Works between the 16th and 17th centuries.
The three monumental gates that allow access to the city (Porta
Udine, Porta Cividale, Porta Aquileia).
Piazza Grande: is the main
urban space of Palmanova, overlooked by the most important buildings of
the city, and the eleven statues of the general superintendents. With a
perfectly hexagonal shape, at its center rests an Istrian stone base
from which the banner rises, showing at its peak the symbol of the
fortress itself. He is commonly called "Mario dai Palmarini" or simply
"Mario".
The Palmanova cathedral (1615-1636), which overlooks Piazza
Grande and represents the best example of Venetian architecture in
Friuli. Inside, you can see the altarpiece of the "Annunciation" (1877),
the work of the Forlì painter Pompeo Randi.
The historical civic
museum of Palmanova, an important starting point for having a general
vision of the complex urban structure and the fortification system of
the fortress, where the collections are exhibited in chronological order
from the year of foundation to the First World War, with the aim of
creating a historical story that summarizes the four periods of
Palmanova's history: Venetian, Napoleonic, Austrian, Italian.
The
military museum of the fortress in the Porta Cividale dungeon.
The
"Gustavo Modena" theater in via Dante with the nineteenth-century façade
in neoclassical style.
The Aviator park, dedicated to aviation
captain Valentino Jansa. It was September 1971, the captain was flying
at low altitude on a G. 91. His plane, due to engine failure, put his
life at risk, crashing into the Foscarini bastion.
The Military Historical Museum is located in the Porta Cividale
donjon and collects uniforms, memorabilia and documents relating to the
Corps and Units that alternated in Palmanova from 1593 to the Second
World War. The itinerary on the fortified system surrounding the city
starts from here. The fortifications consist of:
Curtain: it is
one of the sides of the fortress's hall. The access gates to the city
are located in the center of three curtains;
Knight: elevated
position on the curtain for the longest range artillery;
Loggia
(located on the right corner of the bastion): inside there are
photographs and reproductions of Venetian artillery weapons from the
17th century;
Bulwark or bastion: embankment with the characteristic
arrowhead shape, equipped with a small square for the artillery and
reserves for the storage of powder;
Loggia (located on the left side
of the bastion): shelter equipped with a fireplace inside and a large
entrance that descends towards the moat;
Falsabraga: embankment
parallel to the curtain to hide the movements of troops from the
internal to the external fortifications;
Ditch: ditch that separates
the first circle of fortifications from the second Venetian defensive
line;
Rivellino: bastion-shaped embankment located externally in line
with the curtain and protected by a dry moat;
Lunette: third
defensive line added by Napoleon, placed externally along the axis of
the bulwarks. It has a central casemate with fortress cannon positions
and is protected on the sides by two stone rooms with covered vaults.
The lunette can be reached via the external road or through a suggestive
underground route in a tunnel or mine, located along the covered road
near the moat.
Flavors of History, History of Flavours: display of zero kilometer
products with food and wine stands for tastings;
Guarda Che Luna,
well-known images and toasts in Palmanova, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
evenings in the months of June, July and August, music and cinema in the
square, art exhibitions, guided tours of the Fortress, beauty contests,
wine tastings
Historical re-enactment, on the second Sunday of July,
has taken place since 1977 [16] and commemorates the first raising of
the banner with the emblem of the Marcian lion, which took place on 22
July 1602, in the center of the parade ground, on the occasion of the
SS. Redeemer, co-patron of the city.
Exhibition of antique prints:
takes place in August at the Polveriera Napoleonica in Contrada
Foscarini
TO. 1615. Palma alle Armi: takes place on the first weekend
of September, historical re-enactment of the first phase of the Gradisca
war or Friuli war (1615-1617);
Anniversary of the foundation of the
Fortress: held on 7 October, coinciding with the patronal feast of Santa
Giustina;
Friulian Flavors Fair: event in the month of October with
food and wine stands for the display of products from local companies
and other initiatives (paddle of flavours, amusement park, market fair,
Non solo sposi exhibition).
Christmas Markets - “Palma on ice” (in
December).
Bet Festival (Flags and Drums)
In 1521 the republic of Venice signed the treaty of
Worms with Austria, putting an end to a long and exhausting war that
had cost the fortress of Gradisca to the serenissima (1511). The
Treaty of Worms established rather anomalous borders, like a
"leopard's patch", with Venetian enclaves located within the
territories assigned to the Habsburgs and Austrian possessions
identified in the heart of the Venetian territory, causing a
situation of strong instability and ambiguity towards the historical
enemy of the serenissima. The republic of San Marco was particularly
vulnerable along its delicate eastern border, and similar
arrangements could only increase tension and territorial claims, in
a geopolitical climate made very difficult by the Ottoman raids
(1477, 1478) who came to sack and set fire San Vendemiano near
Vittorio Veneto in 1499.
In this climate of uncertainty and
concern for the Venetian territorial integrity, the Senate of the
republic decided to build a fortress in a point very close to the
border with the Habsburgs in a language of the territory between
Udine and Marano Lagunare (fortified cities in in Venice) wedged in
Austrian territory. A team of engineers, treatise writers and expert
military architects headed by the Fortifications Office of Venice
took part in the project, including the general superintendent
Giulio Savorgnan, main designer of the fortress. On 7 October 1593
the first stone was laid for the construction of the new fortress
and Marc'Antonio Barbaro was appointed as the first general
administrator of Palma.
During the Venetian period the
fortress was equipped with two circles of fortifications with
curtains, bulwarks, falsebraghe, moat and ravelins to protect the
three entrance gates to the city. Palmanova was conceived above all
as a war machine: the number of bastions and the length of the sides
were established on the basis of the range of the guns of the time.
In 1797 an Austrian major tricked into the fortress and managed to
conquer Palmanova, which however quickly ended up under French
control. After the peace of Campoformido Palmanova returned again to
the Austrians who held it for a few years; in 1805 the French
reoccupied the starry city and in this period the third circle of
fortifications was built with the Napoleonic lunettes. In 1814
Palmanova returned to the Habsburgs.
During the Austrian rule
(1815-1866) the Social Theater was built, destined to become a forge
of Risorgimento values: in 1848 the citizens of the fortress, led by
General Zucchi, rose up against the Austrians, assuming control of
the city and undergoing a long siege.
In 1866 Palmanova was
annexed to the Kingdom of Italy. During the First World War the
fortress was a sorting and supply center for the troops on the
Isonzo, as well as a field hospital. After the rout of Caporetto
Palmanova was set on fire by the retreating Italian troops. At the
end of the Second World War the archpriest Giuseppe Merlino made the
retreating Germans withdraw from the decision to flash the
ammunition and explosives depots, an operation that would probably
have caused the destruction of a large part of the city.
By
decree of the President of the Republic in 1960 Palmanova was
proclaimed a national monument.
By plane
Friuli Venezia Giulia Airport (35 km).
By car
A4 motorway, Palmanova exit.
On the train
Palmanova station.
By bus
Service performed by SAF.
It is located in the central Friulian plain, 20 km south of Udine, at the meeting point between the A23 Udine-Tarvisio and A4 Turin-Trieste motorways. It is 17 km from Aquileia, 27 km from Grado, 28 km from Gorizia and 55 km from Trieste and Pordenone.
It belongs to the climate zone E.
From the post-war period until the early nineties, the city was the
site of a service economy, centered around the military presence, for
activities relating to the maintenance of military structures and
stationed personnel, often accompanied by their families. The central
position of Palmanova within the Friulian plain played a decisive role
in the military's choice to settle in the seventeenth-century starry
city.
Alongside schools and civil hospitals, numerous credit
institutions and local offices were established, while industrial
activity, traditionally a minority in the Palamarine economic structure,
remained limited to the manufacturing sector alone and took the form of
a limited number of production entities, concentrated in an area
industrial of marginal dimensions compared to those of the urban and
commercial fabric (and which experienced its brief phase of expansion
especially in the seventies).
After the collapse of the Berlin
Wall, the withdrawal of the soldiers located on the eastern border of
Italy began and their structures in Palmanova within the city walls were
left in a state of abandonment and unuse. The Great Recession of the
early 2000s exacerbated an already ongoing structural crisis which led
to a sharp downsizing of commercial activities in the space of a decade.
Only recently did the military state property order the transfer of
some areas occupied by disused barracks to the Municipality of
Palmanova. The strategic planning of the city involves the recovery of
the commercial tradition and the relaunch of tourism in the context of a
new identity.