Friuli is part, together with Veneto, Slovenia and the Austrians Carinthia and Styria, of the Alpe Adria. This entity has its roots in the spread of Christianity, which spread from the Roman Aquileia to the neighboring regions and the transalpine provinces of Raetia (part of present-day Switzerland and the Tyrol), Norico Savia (Austria and northern part of Slovenia) and Pannonia (Hungary).
It extends from the Dolomites to the Adriatic: from the snows of winter and the numerous ski resorts up to the seashore, on a wide coastline overlooking the Adriatic Sea and the Gulf of Trieste. All this passing through the hills of Friulian wines, known and appreciated all over the world, and through the countryside, where agriculture is increasingly organic and biodynamic at the service of a cuisine, that of Friuli, which blends at least three cultures: Italian, Slavic and Germanic, in some cases also Greek and Hebrew.
Short history of Friuli
In the 2nd century BC the Romans built the first settlements on the Natisone by founding Aquileia. More than twenty dioceses gathered around Aquileia, located both in the Cisalpina and beyond the eastern Alps, giving life to the largest ecclesiastical province of Western Christianity. These include Cividale del Friuli, elevated by Julius Caesar to Forum (market) Iulii, which later became the identifier of the whole region.
On 3 April 1077, thanks to Henry IV, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the Patriarchal State of Aquileia was born, which two centuries later was called the homeland of Friuli. It lived autonomously until the 15th century when it was annexed to Venice.
In eastern Friuli the Venetian domination lasted about a century, when it passed under the control of the Hapsburg Empire. Until 1815, the date of constitution of the Lombard-Veneto Kingdom, Friuli lived divided and grew influenced by a multitude of cultures.
1866 is the year in which the current provinces of Udine and Pordenone are annexed to Italy, while eastern Friuli remains under the Austro-Hungarian domination. This geographical and political break brought disastrous consequences for the Friulian population during the First World War (Caporetto route). After 1918 almost all of Friuli was annexed to Italy.
A borderland even in the Second World War, Friuli was first subjected to the control of the Third Reich, but towards the end of 1943 the strongest partisan resistance was born here, which on 2 May 1945 freed the region from Nazi occupation.
In January 1963 Friuli Venezia Giulia becomes an Autonomous Region and Friulian is recognized as a language.