Discover the essence of the Friulian plains
When reaching this municipality, the first village you come across following our cycle route is Santo Stefano Udinese, with its elongated shape built around the neo gothic Santo Stefano (St Stephen) Church, and the two elegant villas: Villa Cirio (17th century) and Villa d’Arcano (18th century). Here you will also find a fine example of a stone doorway in what used to be the first Friulian dwelling of the Counts Florio.
The following village - past the railway tracks - is Tissano. Here you will find Villa Mauroner, where renowned painter and etcher Fabio Mauroner (1884-1948) used to live, preceded by Giuliano Mauroner (1846-1919), a distinguished doctor, musician, artist and collector. Next to the church one can stop and enjoy a break in the villa’s quaint little park, which is equipped with benches and a playground. Not far, there is Palazzo Rosso (Red Palace), a neo-Romanesque building with exquisite façade decorations, as well as the Villa Agricola, which has now been turned into a hotel. The graceful grounds boast a park complete with a sizeable pond. The villa was once the home of renowned engineer Augusto Agricola (1819-1857), believed to be the first Friulian photographer, and later of Enrico del Torso, also a renowned photographer and a heraldry scholar from the first half of the 20th century.
As you head South you’ll soon find yourself in Santa Maria la Longa by way of the hamlets of Viola and Zompicco with their San Floriano Church and some 16th century rural properties; noteworthy are casa Volpetti, casa Catania and casa Pontoni.
From the cycle path you can also admire Villa Colloredo Mels (17th century) with its distinctive Venetian window gracing the façade; during WW1 it became the first centre for aerial photography in the country and in 1917 the famous poet and writer Gabriele d’Annunzio stayed here.
Not far from the railway, in piazza Divisione Julia, there is a monument honouring the poet Giuseppe Ungaretti, who stayed here during the Great War to get healed and to get food supplies. At the time Santa Maria la Longa was ideally located to offer soldiers some rest following the tough battles of the Isonzo frontline.
The following village - past the railway tracks - is Tissano. Here you will find Villa Mauroner, where renowned painter and etcher Fabio Mauroner (1884-1948) used to live, preceded by Giuliano Mauroner (1846-1919), a distinguished doctor, musician, artist and collector. Next to the church one can stop and enjoy a break in the villa’s quaint little park, which is equipped with benches and a playground. Not far, there is Palazzo Rosso (Red Palace), a neo-Romanesque building with exquisite façade decorations, as well as the Villa Agricola, which has now been turned into a hotel. The graceful grounds boast a park complete with a sizeable pond. The villa was once the home of renowned engineer Augusto Agricola (1819-1857), believed to be the first Friulian photographer, and later of Enrico del Torso, also a renowned photographer and a heraldry scholar from the first half of the 20th century.
As you head South you’ll soon find yourself in Santa Maria la Longa by way of the hamlets of Viola and Zompicco with their San Floriano Church and some 16th century rural properties; noteworthy are casa Volpetti, casa Catania and casa Pontoni.
From the cycle path you can also admire Villa Colloredo Mels (17th century) with its distinctive Venetian window gracing the façade; during WW1 it became the first centre for aerial photography in the country and in 1917 the famous poet and writer Gabriele d’Annunzio stayed here.
Not far from the railway, in piazza Divisione Julia, there is a monument honouring the poet Giuseppe Ungaretti, who stayed here during the Great War to get healed and to get food supplies. At the time Santa Maria la Longa was ideally located to offer soldiers some rest following the tough battles of the Isonzo frontline.
The monument created by Franco Maschio depicts a person standing soundly on his feet, his arms thrown in the air in a gesture of irrepressible longing for freedom. Engraved on the three rocks there are the three poems Ungaretti wrote on 26th January 1917, among which “Mattina” (the Morning), a masterpiece of Hermeticism consisting of just two words “M’illumino d’immenso” (“I illuminate (myself) with immensity”). On the same square, a stela by artist Giorgio Celiberti commemorates the revolt by the Catanzaro Brigade in July 2017. In the centre of the village you can still find the historic pillory column, the last surviving one in the Friulian lowlands, to which the condemned were tied to be derided and humiliated. There is a choice of eateries in the village.
Leaving the square behind, you cycle along Via Ellero to reach Mereto di Capitolo, a rural burgh surrounded by an elliptical moat; the ancient San Pietro church can be seen from the cycling route. It contains 16th century frescoes in the lunette of the protiro. The village is also home to four noble dwellings complete with foledors (traditional rooms or buildings destined for grape crushing): Villa di Brazzà Cergneu – Gortani with a beautiful stone balcony placed above the entrance gate and the San Uberto chapel, Villa Morelli de Rossi, Villa Scala with its barchessa attributed to the architect Andrea Scala, and Villa Orgnani Martina, located directly by the roadside and embellished with its elegant stone doorway.
For tourist information
Infopoint Palmanova
Tel. +39 0432 924815
info.palmanova@promoturismo.fvg.it
Leaving the square behind, you cycle along Via Ellero to reach Mereto di Capitolo, a rural burgh surrounded by an elliptical moat; the ancient San Pietro church can be seen from the cycling route. It contains 16th century frescoes in the lunette of the protiro. The village is also home to four noble dwellings complete with foledors (traditional rooms or buildings destined for grape crushing): Villa di Brazzà Cergneu – Gortani with a beautiful stone balcony placed above the entrance gate and the San Uberto chapel, Villa Morelli de Rossi, Villa Scala with its barchessa attributed to the architect Andrea Scala, and Villa Orgnani Martina, located directly by the roadside and embellished with its elegant stone doorway.
For tourist information
Infopoint Palmanova
Tel. +39 0432 924815
info.palmanova@promoturismo.fvg.it
Udine - Grado