Palmanova

 

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.

 

Monuments and places of interest

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.

 

Military Historical Museum

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.

 

Events

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)

 

History

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.

 

How to get here

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.

 

Physical geography

Territory

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.

 

Climate

It belongs to the climate zone E.

 

Economy

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.