newsletter.november.2011

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1 More than skiing: discover Friuli Venezia Giulia s winter with the FVG card Would you like to enjoy a complete winter mountain experience at low costs? Are you a real mountain enthusiast and do you want to discover it respecting its balances? Are you planning a skiing holiday with your family? Friuli Venezia Giulia is the right place for you: pleasant and never crowded resorts, a rich plant and animal variety unique in Europe, unspoilt landscapes, food and wine specialities able to present the local products and the traditional dishes in a modern and always new way. And, at the same time, safe and uncrowded ski runs and offers designed to let people discover the regional beauties at good prices: this year the FVG card, the pass that for 15, 20 or 29 allows to access many tourist services and over 200 partner facilities in Friuli Venezia Giulia spending less, comprises many free offers. From mid-december to the end of March a nature guide may accompany you on a Nordic walking or snowshoe tour. There is a wide range of possibilities: panoramic snowshoe tours to admire the spectacle of the mountains, photographic snowshoe tours to go back home with amazing memories, nature snowshoe tours to observe the winter vegetation and the fauna along the Tagliamento river or in the peace of the woods. The tours are not very difficult and are suitable for everyone, for families as well, but if you are fit you may choose a tour of several hours. The guide, the snowshoes and the poles are included free charge in the FVG card. For a different and thrilling sensory experience, you can go on a snowshoe tour at dusk as well, to enjoy the charm of its colours, or in the silence of the night in the moonlight with the aid of torches. Through mythological figures and legends you will also have the chance to learn to recognize the constellations, again with the help of the guide. Children can enjoy special moments, such as cross-country skiing and dog sledding lessons as well as nature walks to discover the forest. For the whole family, on the other hand, horse-drawn carriage tours and cableway rides to Mount Lussari or to Mount Canin. Again, everything is included in the FVG Card, which also provides discounts on the products on sale in Carnia s craft shops. Dulcis in fundo: Friuli Venezia Giulia always amazes its visitors with its food and wine specialities. Why not deepening your culinary knowledge with a workshop of taste? The FVG card also comprises stages for discovering the history and secrets of Carnia s cuisine, from the products of the land to their processing and presentation, up to the final tasting. Wild herbs, cheeses, cold meats, mushrooms and wild berries are waiting for you!

2 A little Venice on the border: Muggia and its Carnival Overlooking a small dock at the foot of the hills, in an area that from a geographical point of view is already Istria, Muggia is Italy s far eastern end. The historical connection with Venice can be clearly seen in the town s look and dialect, but it is also revealed in the traditional carnival, which has been celebrated in Muggia at least since For centuries the mato carneval, the crazy carnival, starts on the last Thursday before Lent with the ballo della verdura (dance of vegetables), men and women dancing with garlands of vegetables on their heads and oranges in their hands, and ends on Ash Wednesday with the funeral of Carnival. A whole week of shows, colours, jokes and street theatre, which reaches its height with the parade of Carnival floats, scheduled on Sunday morning, the building of which engages for months the town s skilful craftsmen, the heritage of the jobs linked to the shipyards of the area. The event is organized by the Compagnie (Companies), groups of private citizens sharing the love for their town and for its traditions, who every year choose the themes to be represented at the parade and develop them in the realization of the floats and in the creation of pantomimes and shows. A peculiarity of the Carnival of Muggia is the absence of face masks: in Muggia people take part in the carnival to expose themselves to the public and to be recognized, therefore their faces are not hidden by masks. The festival setting is made up of the characteristic calli, the picturesque piazza d inverno with the Venetian-Gothic Cathedral and the Town Hall with the façade decorated with St. Mark s Lions and with the coats of arms of the ancient noble families of Muggia, the mandracchio (small sheltered harbour), the Church of the Holy Crucifix and St. Francis Church. Finally, don t miss the opportunity to taste the crostoli (angel wings) and the frittelle (fritters).

3 The History of the Lombards starts in Cividale with Paul the Deacon Part thirteen: famous authors in Friuli Venezia Giulia Indeque Alboin cum Venetiae fines, quae prima est Italiae provincia, sine aliquo obstaculo, hoc est civitatis vel potius castri Foroiulani terminos introisset, perpendere coepit, cui potissimum primam provinciarum quam ceperat committere deberet. When Alboin without any hindrance had thence entered the territories of Venetia, which is the first province of Italy - that is, the limits of the city or rather of the fortress of Forum Julii - he began to consider to whom he should especially commit the first of the provinces that he had taken. Paul Warnefried, also known as Paul the Deacon, relates the arrival of the Lombards in Italy through the civitas Forum Iulii, the ancient Cividale del Friuli, then explaining the establishment of the first duchy and the choice of Cividale as its capital and, finally, the decision to entrust the duchy to Alboin s nephew Gisulf. It was the year 568; Paul was born in Cividale in 720, and he wrote his famous History of the Lombards after the fall of the kingdom to Charlemagne in 773. In the following year Paul decided to enter the monastery of Montecassino, probably to escape the vengeance of the Franks, and there, in the quiet of the monastery, he brought honour to his people by writing their history. The Historia Langobardorum is the fundamental text for reconstructing the events of Italy from the 6 th to the 8 th century and the relations among the Lombards, the Franks, the Byzantines and the Papacy. The years in which Paul lived in Cividale are also those which left the most significant evidence in the goldsmith s art, in architecture and in sculpture. Cividale s Lombard elements are part, together with other evidence in other Italian towns, of the itinerary I Longobardi in Italia: i luoghi del potere (The Longobards in Italy: places of power), recently listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As for Cividale, the site includes the gastaldaga area with the Lombard temple, which is the most important and best preserved architectural evidence of the Lombard age, and the Episcopal complex of Patriarch Callisto, which was the main religious complex and comprised the basilica, the baptistery of St. John the Baptist and the patriarchal palace. Today, few traces are left of the architectural works, but, on the other hand, archaeological research has brought to light some of the most refined items of the Lombard sculpture, such as the baptismal font of Patriarch Callisto and the altar of duke Ratchis. Other important Lombard finds, among which some very rare gold coins, are preserved at the National Archaeological Museum.

4 Natural and historical treasures in the Alba Valley In the mountains of Friuli Venezia Giulia you will find real treasure chests, rich in natural beauties and in history, like in the Alba Valley, an area of great natural interest between the Alps and the Pre-Alps, declared a Regional Nature Reserve in 2006 thanks to its peculiar natural, historical and cultural characteristics. The luck of this territory is that the human presence, lost in the mists of time, has always been discreet, today we would say sustainable. Thus, the signs left by man do not compromise the natural environment, but enrich it making this area attractive for many visitors from several points of view. The Alba Valley is comprised in the Julian Pre-Alps Park and extends over nearly 3000 hectares in the municipality of Moggio Udinese. It is crossed by the Alba Stream, from which it draws its name, which among the rocky ridges of the valley forms spectacular waterfalls with its crystal-clear waters. The sources of the Alba Stream are a suggested hiking destination among beech trees, Norway spruces and black pines, to discover the real essence of the Reserve. During the hikes, if you are lucky, you may also get to see some specimens of the 80 species of nesting birds or of the 50 species of mammals that populate the area, as well as reptiles and amphibians. Along paths and muletracks, hikers can enjoy the spectacle of nature, and follow the traces of the First World War. This valley, in fact, was crossed by the second front line and one can still see some war constructions, such as high-altitude shelters, defensive structures, small dormitories and tunnel emplacements. The hikes to the Vuâlt Alpine Hut, to the Bianchi Bivouac or to the remains of the former military hospital are suitable for everyone, even for families.

5 The Goles hotel-alpine hut to open on Mount Zoncolan Is it a hotel or an Alpine hut? The Goles, which will open to coincide with the start of the 2011 winter season scheduled on December 8, features the services of a hotel and the look of an Alpine hut. Situated on Mount Zoncolan, at 1600 metres of altitude, the hotel is surrounded by 30 km of Alpine and cross-country ski runs in an extremely beautiful setting. Respecting the local history and tradition, it is made with traditional materials (stone and wood), but it uses the most modern building principles of ecological balance for energy conservation. Furniture, too, is made of wood, in a perfect Alpine style. It is perfect to let its guests relax after a full day of skiing. The rooms are equipped with satellite TV, Internet access and webcams providing images of the area; the restaurant proposes Carnia s gastronomic specialities matched by a wide range of wines; relaxation is provided by the wellness area, which is equipped with saunas and Jacuzzis. The Goles is open during the tourist season of Mount Zoncolan, which in winter offers Alpine and cross-country ski runs and the possibility to go on panoramic snowshoes tours and, for the lazy ones, on snowcat tours at night. In summer, on the other hand, Mount Zoncolan is the destination of hikers and cycling enthusiasts: in fact, the most demanding climb of the Giro d Italia of the past years, the finish of which is near the Alpine hut, stretches along the hairpin bends of the mount.