A distinctive identity
From time immemorial, Friuli Venezia Giulia has been an
exceptional region of transit, connecting the lands beyond the Alps
and the sea.
Its geographical position proved to be a meeting point for
peoples of different languages and cultures. This often caused
conflicts and battles, the evidence of which is still visible in
many places of historical interest all around the
Region.
Over time, these peoples developed a distinctive and common
identity, a deep-rooted culture with its origins in the ancient
Patriarchate of Aquileia, where different worlds and traditions,
from ancient Judaism to the Roman culture, from the Eastern,
Germanic and Slavic components to Byzantine and Venetian
influences, successfully lived side by side.
This was a broad horizon, a meeting place of differing
knowledge, where exchange and integration created first cultural
and then political unity, which were capable of paying tribute to
the value and the contribution of the diversities it was made up
of.
Thanks to its historical and geographical features, the economy
of Friuli Venezia Giulia is one of the most developed in Italy. Its
core is based on small- and middle- sized enterprises (the
so-called 'North-East Model'), on specialized farming and on
high-quality tourism and products for export.
A little bit of history
The Roman origin is visible over all the territory, and the
unifying element of the two parts is the X (tenth) Regio Venetia et
Histria, with its capital at Aquileia in the Augustan period.
Starting from the Lombard settlements (6th century), the historical
paths diverge: Cividale del Friuli became the capital of the first
Lombard Dukedom in Italy; the Franks, arriving two centuries later,
favoured the growth of the church of Aquileia. The patriarchate of
Aquileia, created in 1077, is the largest diocese of the
late-medieval Christian West, it detains both religious and
temporal power and this was extended temporarily even to the east;
already in the 12th century Gorizia had actually become independent
and Trieste, along with other coastal towns, organized itself as a
free city-state.
It was the land of Friuli that became Venetian territory in
1420, while Trieste and Gorizia remained under the Austrian Empire.
Pordenone was a 'corpus separatum' under Austrian influence until
1515, when it fell under the domination of Venice. With the peace
treaty of Campoformido in 1797, Venetian domination came to an end
and Friuli was ceded to Austria. After a period of Napoleonic
domination , Friuli was included in the Lombard-Veneto Kingdom,
while Gorizia was merged with the Illyrian Kingdom and Trieste,
together with Istria, became part of the Austrian Coastal
Region.
The enlightened policy of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in the
18th and 19th centuries encouraged economic flourishing, making
Trieste the port of the Empire. The fortunate outcome of the war of
independence brought Friuli alone into the unified Kingdom of
Italy.
During the First World War this region was a theatre of
operations and suffered very serious damage and a huge number of
casualties. After the Second World War Venezia Giulia, underwent
very painful experiences due to the explosion of conflicts
regarding its borders.
The Second World War led to the Anglo-American Administration of
Trieste until the border was fixed with the Memorandum of London in
1954. When Trieste was reunited with Italy, the Autonomous Region
of Friuli Venezia Giulia could finally be established.
Big names
The number and quality of individuals from the world of culture
originating from Friuli Venezia Giulia is evidence of the cultural
wealth of this Region: the writer Italo Svevo, the
director-writer-poet Pierpaolo Pasolini, the photographer Tina
Modotti, the theatre director Giorgio Strehler, the Nobel laureate
in physics Carlo Rubbia, and the cinematographer Dante Spinotti,
the germanist and writer Claudio Magris. But Friuli Venezia Giulia
is not just a source of talents, it is also a land capable of
attracting and inspiring big names such as James Joyce and Rainer
Maria Rilke.
Source: Agenzia
Turismo FVG, Autonomous
Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Wikipedia, circa.europa.eu