Tarvisio (Tarvis in Friulian and in German, Trbiž in Slovenian)
is an Italian town of 4 133 inhabitants in Friuli-Venezia Giulia,
the easternmost town of the former province of Udine.
It is
the only municipality that was and remained on the border with
Slovenia at the turn of the Second World War.
It is the
headquarters of the UTI of the Canal del Ferro - Val Canale, of
which it is part with the municipalities of Chiusaforte, Dogna,
Malborghetto Valbruna, Moggio Udinese, Pontebba, Resia and Resiutta.
The territory of the municipality is located in the extreme north-east of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, in Val Canale, at 754 meters above sea level, surrounded by the forest of the same name, in a border area between Italy, Austria and Slovenia (on Monte Forno there is the triple frontier), with the Western Karawanken chain to the north-east (Monte Forno), the Julian Alps to the south (Monte Santo di Lussari), and bordering the Canal del Ferro to the west (Carnic Alps); the territory also includes part of the Jôf Fuârt-Montasio chain and the Mangart group with the Fusine lakes and the Predil lake, two main massifs of the Julian Alps, which separate it to the south from the Val Raccolana and to the west from the Fella valley. Geographically it does not belong to the Italian region as it is located beyond the main Alpine watershed (Sella Camporosso), instead being part of the catchment area of the Danube and the Black Sea: in fact the river Slizza (Slize in Friulian, Gailitz in German, Ziljica in Slovenian) which from Cave del Predil crosses Tarvisio flows into the Gail at Arnoldstein.
Despite being located at only 754 m a.s.l., it has a continental climate with cold winters (absolute minimum temperature -23 ° C in January 1985) and very snowy (due to high rainfall, an annual average of 250 cm of snowfall). On the other hand, summers are rather hot (absolute maximum 37 ° C in July 1983). The Tarvisio meteorological station is located in the municipal area, officially recognized by the world meteorological organization, as well as a reference point for studying the climate of the corresponding Alpine area.
Origins of the name
The toponym
"Tarvisio" derives from the Celtic population of the Taurisci.
Antiquity
Of Roman origin, it seems that the town rises in a
place previously inhabited by a Celtic population of the Taurisci.
Middle Ages
Possession of the Bamberg Chapter since the 11th
century, starting from the 12th century it assumed considerable
commercial importance and in 1456 obtained from the bishop of
Bamberg the privilege of holding an annual fair, which still takes
place there today. From the fifteenth century the iron industry
flourished there; in the same period (1478 and 1492) it suffered
looting by the Turks.
Modern age
It was involved in the
events of the War of Gradisca (1615-18). For a long time the border
with the Veneto territories of Carnia was in Pontebba, the center
that precedes Tarvisio going up the Fella river and marking the
limit between the Val Canale and the Canal del Ferro.
Contemporary age
The center, which returned permanently to
Austria, was the scene of battles in the Napoleonic era together
with the nearby Malborghetto-Valbruna between the Austrian and
French troops (1797, 1809, 1813). It became part of the Kingdom of
Italy in 1919, after the First World War and has since experienced a
significant boost as a border place, being on the Venice-Vienna
route and near the important Coccau, Fusine and Predil crossings. .
Since the 1920s, the municipality of Tarvisio has received
substantial migratory flows, from Friuli and the rest of Italy,
which have radically changed its ethnic composition.
Like its neighbors Malborghetto-Valbruna and Pontebba, Tarvisio is
also a tetralingual municipality where, in addition to Italian,
Slovenian, German and Friulian are also spoken.
From a historical
point of view, Slovenian-Carinthian is the oldest language in Val
Canale, spoken since at least the 7th century. German, of the
Bavarian-Carinthian type, has spread since the late Middle Ages, favored
by the domination of the bishops of Bamberg first and then of the
Habsburgs. Italian and Friulian are instead the result of recent
immigrations following the annexation to the Kingdom of Italy after the
Great War and for this reason it does not belong to a precise dialect,
but reflects the characteristics of different varieties.
The
distribution of these linguistic groups (as in the whole of Val Canale,
moreover) is not homogeneous, so different languages can coexist in the
hamlets; indeed, normally the inhabitants are able to understand or even
speak multiple languages. In Tarvisio, the capital, the majority of the
population speaks Italian or Friulian as their mother tongue, but there
is also a non-negligible percentage of German speakers. In Fusine German
prevails, while Camporosso and Cave del Predil seem to be mainly
Slovenian-speaking. The three languages are subject to protection under
regional and national laws.
The population today is Italian in
majority, but Slovenian and German minorities are always present.
Neighborhoods
Its municipal territory also includes the towns of
Camporosso, Cave del Predil, Coccau, Colazzo, Fusine in Val Romana,
Fusine Laghi, Monte Lussari, Rutte Grande, Rutte Piccolo and
Sant'Antonio.
Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, built in the 14th century and
completed in the 15th century, it was enlarged between 1959 and 1962
Lussari Sanctuary
parish church
Church of Sant'Egidio Abate in
Camporosso in Valcanale
Church of the Beata Vergine di Loreto, a
seventeenth-century construction located in Tarviso Bassa
Church
of San Michele Arcangelo, built between 1934 and 1939 in the
locality of Tarvisio Centrale
Church of San Giovanni Nepomuceno,
built in Riofreddo around the middle of the 20th century
Church
of San Leonardo, parish church of Fusine in Valromana dating back to
the 15th century
Church of San Nicolò Vescovo, built in Coccau in
the Middle Ages
Church of Sant'Antonio, located in Oltreacqua
dating back to the sixteenth century
Church of Saints Philip and
James in Plezzut, was built in the seventeenth century
Church of
Sant'Anna in Cave del Predil
Monument to the Austrian grenadier
Roman funerary steles in the town of Camporosso
Fusine
lakes (upper and lower)
Predil Lake
Orrido dello Slizza
Even in popular traditions, the Austrian (Carinthian) and Slovenian
cultures, present at the time of the Habsburg empire, clearly stand out.
Feast of San Nicolò and Krampus. on December 5th. It is the
folkloristic festival most felt by the population and is held every year
in all the hamlets of the Tarvisio area.
"Di Prampero" ski slope and "Alpe Limerza" slope. In the Tarvisio
area there are some well-known ski facilities, in particular the famous
"Di Prampero" slope, on Monte Santo di Lussari, reachable by the cable
car which takes skiers, from December to April, to try their hand at the
various ski slopes that arise on the sides of the mountain such as Di
Prampero (with a length of 3,920 m and a difference in altitude of 940
m) and Alpe Limerza. This slope, as well as having been the scene of
numerous ski races valid for the European Cup, hosted the women's ski
world cup in 2007, 2009, and on 5 and 6 March 2011. From the hamlet of
Camporosso, at 805 m above sea level, a modern cable car starts which,
with a length of 3,070 m and a capacity of 1,880 people/hour, takes you
to an altitude of 1,760 in just over 15 minutes, to the foot of the
inhabited village and to the start of the ski slope.
Pilgrim's Path
(Mount Lussari).
1 Friuli-Venezia Giulia Airport, via Aquileia 60 (in Ronchi dei
Legionari), ☎ +39 0481 773224.
2 Venice
Marco Polo Airport, viale Galilei (in Tessera), ☎ +39 041 2609260.
3
Verona Airport (Catullo), Caselle di
Sommacampagna, ☎ +39 045 8095666, contacts@aeroportoverona.it.
By
car
The city is located in the immediate vicinity of the Alpe-Adria
motorway (A23) which can be accessed through two junctions: Tarvisio Sud
and Tarvisio Nord.
Tarvisio is the junction of two main road
arteries: the Pontebbana and the SS54
On the train
The city
has its own station on the Pontebbana Udine-Tarvisio line.
By public transport
The municipality's urban transport is carried
out with scheduled bus services managed by the SAF company.
1 Ristorante Italia, via Roma 95, ☎ +39 0428 2041.
2 Alpino bar
pizzeria spaghetteria trattoria, Via Roma, 66, ☎ +39 0428 2524.
3
Trattoria Pizzeria Da Isa, Via Vittorio Veneto, 89, ☎ +39 0428 40649.
4 Stefania Restaurant, Via Vittorio Veneto, 94, ☎ +39 0428 2343.
5
Tschurwald - restaurant, Via Roma, 8, ☎ +39 0428 40534.
6 Gasthaus
bar trattoria in the sun - restaurant, Via Alpi Giulie, 314 (in
Camporosso).
7 Nabucco Restaurant, Via Torrente 12, ☎ +39 0428
644106.
8 Bar Trattoria Miramonti, Via Dante Alighieri, 73, ☎ +39
0428 2050.
Average prices
1 Hotel Trieste, Via Dante Alighieri, 62, ☎ +39
0428 645029.
2 Hotel Meuble' Tarvis, Via Vittorio Veneto, 148, ☎ +39
0428 40814.
3 Albergo Al Mangart, Via Vittorio Veneto, 39, ☎ +39 0428
2246.
4 Albergo Diffuso Foresta Di Tarvisio, Localita' Rutte Piccolo,
8, ☎ +39 0428 3003. The renovated buildings are located in Rutte Piccolo
and Aclete.
5 Albergo Rododendro (in Monte Lussari), ☎ +39 0428
653923.
6 Rifugio Locanda Al Convento, Monte Lussari, 184 (in Monte
Lussari), ☎ +39 0428 63184.
7 Rifugio Al Santuario, Via Lussari, 1
(in Monte Lussari), ☎ +39 328 6932779.
8 Hotel Il Cervo, Via
Priesnig, 72, ☎ +39 0428 40305.