Friuli

Coordinates: 46°10′N 13°00′E / 46.167°N 13.000°E / 46.167; 13.000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Friuli
Friûl (Friulian)
Friul (Venetian)
Furlanija (Slovene)
Flag of Friuli
Anthem: Incuintri al doman
Friulian language area superposed to the borders of Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friulian language area superposed to the borders of Friuli-Venezia Giulia
CountryItaly
RegionFriuli-Venezia Giulia
Area
 • Total8,240 km2 (3,180 sq mi)
Population
 • Total~800,000–1,000,000
 • Density128/km2 (330/sq mi)
Demonym(s)English: Friulian
Italian: Friulano (man)
Italian: Friulana (woman)
 • Summer (DST)UTC + 1

Friuli (Italian:

Austrian German: Friaul) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who traditionally spoke the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the administrative provinces of Udine, Pordenone, and Gorizia, excluding Trieste
.

Names

The name originates from the ancient Roman town of Forum Iulii ("Julius' Forum"), now Cividale del Friuli.

Geography

Friuli is bordered on the west by the

Isonzo valley from Gorizia/Nova Gorica up to Triglav and the Vipava Valley, forming the Goriška
region, may also be considered part of historic Friuli.

The mountainous northern part of the region belongs to the

Canin
2,587 metres (8,488 ft), which dominates the plain.

Tagliamento river at Gemona
Lagoon of Grado, Alps in the background

Rivers flowing southwards from the mountains are numerous. The Friulian mountains surround the course of the

Isonzo/Soča, and Ausa
.

Friuli covers an area of 8,240 square kilometres (3,180 sq mi), subdivided among the provinces of Udine 4,905 square kilometres (1,894 sq mi), Pordenone 2,178 square kilometres (841 sq mi) and Gorizia 466 square kilometres (180 sq mi). The historical capital and most important city is Udine, which was also the capital of the medieval Patria del Friuli. Other important towns are Pordenone, Gorizia/Nova Gorica, Sacile, Codroipo, Cervignano del Friuli, Cividale del Friuli, Gemona del Friuli, Monfalcone, and Tolmezzo.

Climate

The climate of the Friulian plain is mainly

above sea level
. In the coldest month, January, temperatures vary between approximately 4.5 °C (40.1 °F) in Monfalcone and nearly −5 °C (23 °F) in Passo di Monte Croce Carnico, with intermediate temperatures of 3 °C (37 °F) in Udine and −2 or −3 °C (28 or 27 °F) in Valcanale. Gorizia, a short distance from Udine, enjoys a particularly milder micro-climate with its approximate annual average of 4 °C (39 °F). In the warmest month, July, the temperatures range between 22.5 and 24 °C (72.5–75.2 °F) along the coast and plains and between 14 and 16 °C (57–61 °F) in Val Canale.

Cividale on Natisone river

Precipitation in Friuli is relatively abundant; the distribution of rainfall varies a great deal during the course of the year. Minimum values in the southern part generally fall between 1,200 and 1,500 mm (47–59 in) (Gorizia over 1,350 mm (53 in) and Udine over 1,400 mm (55 in)), whereas the alpine area's maximum annual rainfall is approximately 3,000 mm (120 in). The Julian Prealps is one of Italy's rainiest regions: Musi receives about 3,300 mm (130 in) of annual precipitation, sometimes even 5000 mm, and can receive 400 mm (16 in) in a single month. In some areas of Friuli, excessive rainfall has caused erosion and the flooding of many rivers. Snow is sparse in the southern plains (3 or 4 snowy days each year in Udine and Pordenone) but falls more consistently further to the north (Val Canale 25 days, Sauris 23 days, and Passo di Monte Croce Carnico 28 days).

The following weatherbox is from Udine, the main city of Friuli.

Climate data for Udine (1971–2000, extremes 1969–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 18.6
(65.5)
23.2
(73.8)
25.6
(78.1)
29.5
(85.1)
33.2
(91.8)
36.2
(97.2)
38.2
(100.8)
37.0
(98.6)
34.4
(93.9)
29.8
(85.6)
25.3
(77.5)
17.4
(63.3)
38.2
(100.8)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 7.7
(45.9)
9.8
(49.6)
13.5
(56.3)
17.1
(62.8)
22.3
(72.1)
25.6
(78.1)
28.2
(82.8)
28.4
(83.1)
24.1
(75.4)
18.6
(65.5)
12.6
(54.7)
8.5
(47.3)
18.0
(64.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) 3.7
(38.7)
5.0
(41.0)
8.4
(47.1)
12.0
(53.6)
17.1
(62.8)
20.3
(68.5)
22.7
(72.9)
22.6
(72.7)
18.7
(65.7)
13.7
(56.7)
8.2
(46.8)
4.5
(40.1)
13.1
(55.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −0.4
(31.3)
0.3
(32.5)
3.4
(38.1)
7.0
(44.6)
11.8
(53.2)
15.0
(59.0)
17.1
(62.8)
16.9
(62.4)
13.3
(55.9)
8.8
(47.8)
3.7
(38.7)
0.5
(32.9)
8.1
(46.6)
Record low °C (°F) −14.6
(5.7)
−11.6
(11.1)
−10.0
(14.0)
−4.8
(23.4)
1.4
(34.5)
5.6
(42.1)
8.2
(46.8)
6.6
(43.9)
3.0
(37.4)
−3.2
(26.2)
−8.4
(16.9)
−18.6
(−1.5)
−18.6
(−1.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 74.9
(2.95)
61.6
(2.43)
86.2
(3.39)
119.0
(4.69)
118.2
(4.65)
137.9
(5.43)
81.2
(3.20)
79.1
(3.11)
124.3
(4.89)
134.5
(5.30)
108.1
(4.26)
85.9
(3.38)
1,210.9
(47.67)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 6.2 5.2 7.6 9.8 10.8 10.5 7.8 7.2 7.3 8.3 7.2 6.7 94.6
Source: Servizio Meteorologico[2][3]

Demography

Friuli, Mandament of Portogruaro included, is inhabited by over 1,000,000 people.

Zona Population (2005) Land area
(km2)
Population density
(inhabitants/km2)
Province of Gorizia 140,681 466 302
Province of Udine 528,246 4,905 108
Province of Pordenone 297,699 2,178 137
Total 966,626 7,549 128

One of the most important demographic phenomena in Friuli was emigration. It began in the final decades of the 19th century and ended in the 1970s. It is estimated that more than a million Friulian people emigrated away over a period of approximately one hundred years. According to the most recent census by AIRE (2005), Friulian émigrés living abroad number 134,936. Of these, 56.0% reside in Europe, 24.0% in South America, 10.3% in North America and 4.7% in Oceania. This data only reflects those Friulians and their descendants who have Italian citizenship. The descendants of Friulians are excluded from the census because they are not Italian citizens. Friulians in the world have supported cultural associations called Fogolârs furlans, of which there are 46 in Italy and 156 in the rest of the world.

History

Origins and the Roman era

Roman forum ruins in Aquileia, which played an important role in Roman times and the early Middle Ages when it became seat of the Patriarchate of Aquileia

In the prehistoric era, Friuli was home to the Castellieri culture. These peoples most likely arrived from the sea and were the dominant culture in the area from about the 15th century BC until the early historical period. During the course of the 4th century BC Friuli was settled by the Carni (in ancient Greek Καρνίοι), a tribe of unknown ethnicity which may have spoken a Celtic, a Venetic or a Rhaetic language, and which introduced advanced techniques of working iron and silver. According to Strabo [4.6] the Carni inhabited "the country about the Adriatic Gulf and Aquileia" and both Pliny [3.22(18)] and Ptolemy [3.1] ascribe Aquileia, Concordia and Forum Julii to belong to the "towns of the Carni" in the "country of the Carni". The Carni worshiped the deity Belenus which is attested by the most numerous votive inscriptions found in and around Aquileia.[4] A northern mountainous area of Friuli still retains the ancient name Carnia.

Beginning from the 2nd century BC, Friuli was colonized by the

Patriarchate of Aquileia
. It ranked among the highest ecclesiastic authorities in Italy from the mid-6th century onward. The lack of security in the Friulian plain, crossroads of all the great barbarian invasions, drove many people to seek shelter on the islands of the lagoons or in fortified hill-villages, causing a generalized depopulation of the more fertile part of the region and its consequent colonization by barbarian gentes.

Middle Ages

Duchy of Friuli in Italian context (750)

After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, Friuli belonged to the kingdom of Odoacer and subsequently to that of Theodoric the Great. The Byzantine reconquest under Justinian I was brief in the region, in 568 it was one of the first provinces conquered by the Lombards, who invaded from Pannonia, and with that, ended the Greek-Byzantine era of the region. The Lombard king Alboin established the Duchy of Friuli, the first Lombard duchy, and granted it to his relative Gisulf I. The capital of the duchy was established at Forum Iulii (Cividale del Friuli), which became the most important city of the area and for where it derived its name.

The duchy of Friuli was from the start one of the most important Lombard duchies. It served as a barrier against the threat of invasion by the

marcher status. Among later dukes, Ratchis became king in 744 and his ducal successor, Aistulf, succeeded him as king in 749. The historian Paul the Deacon was born in Friuli (730/5), he went on to write the Historia Langobardorum and taught Latin grammar at Charlemagne's court. Another teacher and a trusted advisor Charlemagne's court, Paulinus
, was born at Cividale and eventually became patriarch of Aquileia.

After the

Kingdom of Italy fell to the Franks, the duchy of Friuli was reorganized into counties according to the Frankish model. The region was again reorganized into the March of Friuli in 846. The march was granted to the Unruoching dynasty. Friuli became the base of power of Berengar I
during his struggles for the throne of Italy between 888 and 924.

The march was transformed under his rule, its territory extended to

March of Verona and Aquileia established in its place. The territory was now subjected to the Duchy of Bavaria, then to the Duchy of Carinthia
, for more than a century.

On 3 April 1077, the

Napoleon Bonaparte. The Patriarch Marquard of Randeck (1365–1381) had gathered together and codified all the laws of Friuli and promulgated them as the Constitutiones Patriae Foriiulii ("Constitutions of the Country of Friuli"). Cividale del Friuli was seat of the Patriarchate until 1238, when the patriarch moved his seat to Udine
, where he had a magnificent episcopal edifice constructed. Udine was so important that it in time became the institutional capital of Friuli.

Venetian domination to Bourbon restoration

The Venetian-style Piazza Libertà in Udine. The city became de facto capital of Friuli.

The Patriarchate ended in 1420: surrounded by the powerful states of the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary and the Republic of Venice, it was the theatre of a war between Hungary and Venice, and was conquered by the latter. Friuli maintained some form of autonomy, by keeping its own Parliament ruling on the old territory of the Patriarchate, an autonomy not granted to the other cities and provinces submitted to Venice (even Venetian ones); on the other side, it maintained also its feudal nobility, which was able to keep their feudal rights over the land and its inhabitants for some time.

Friuli was the eastern border of the

Stato da Tera, and suffered both from Ottoman raids and from the border wars with Austria. These wars led to poverty and instability of the rural population, with the inability to cultivate the land crossed by fighting armies and with the forced surrender of all livestock to feed traveling troops. The harvesting of timber needed to build Venetian ships caused complete deforestation of the Bassa Friulana and central Friuli. Venice took possession of collective farms belonging to rural Friulian communities, seriously impoverishing them.[citation needed
] These properties in turn would be sold by Venice during the 17th century to raise cash to alleviate its poor financial condition.

Beginning in the 1630s, the Venetian Republic entered a relative decline, due to the enlarging horizon of European markets (reaching now from Asia to Africa to the Americas). Venice's richest families often directed financial resources into unproductive investments (specifically real estate), while there was a loss of competitiveness in industries and services. Friuli was subject to increasing fiscal pressure, and its industries and commercial activities were affected.

Patria del Friuli, 1650 map

According to some historians, the political populism practiced by Venice looked for ways to limit the most oppressive and anachronistic effects of feudalism. Other researchers assert that the Venetian aristocratic government maintained a most oppressive feudal condition in Friuli.[citation needed] These policies were practiced by the Venetian government to ensure the support of the urban and rural population as a counterbalance to the independent tendencies and power of local oligarchies and aristocrats.

An important

Fat Thursday 1511
), was started in Udine on February 27 by starving Udinesi citizens. They were subsequently joined by the farmers and the revolt spread to the whole territory of Friûl, against the feudal rule of some noble families; some other noble family, like the pro-Venetian Savorgnan, initially supported the revolters. This insurrection was one of the largest in Renaissance Italy and it lasted from 27 February until 1 March, when it ended as Venice dispatched around one hundred cavalry to put down the rebellion. The chiefs of the revolt were executed, but the feudal powers of the Friulian noblemen were reduced.

With the 1516

County of Gorizia and Gradisca, now in the hands of the House of Habsburg, were redefined. Venice lost the upper Isonzo valley (that is the Gastaldia of Tolmino with Plezzo and Idria), but it kept Monfalcone, Marano and a series of shed feudal islands in the Western Friuli stayed with the Archduke of Austria (until 1543). Between 1615 and 1617 Venice and Austria again fought for the possession of the fort of Gradisca d'Isonzo
. The so-called War of Gradisca ended with a return to the status quo.

Beginning in 1516 the Habsburg Empire controlled eastern Friuli, while western and central Friuli was Venetian. In 1797, the year of the Treaty of Campo Formio, this part of the Friuli was surrendered to Austria. For a brief period from 1805 until the Bourbon Restoration, Friuli belonged to the Italic Kingdom.

From the Restoration to the Great War

Ethnographic map of the Austrian Empire (1855) by Karl Freiherrn von Czoernig
Graffiti of Friûl libar ("Free Friuli") in Aiello del Friuli

In 1815, the

County of Gorizia and Gradisca
) remained under Austria until the end of World War I.

The Ethnographic map of Karl von Czoernig-Czernhausen, issued by the k. u. k. Administration of Statistics in 1855, recorded a total of 401,357 Friulians living in the Austrian Empire. The majority of Friulians (351,805) lived in that part of Friuli that belonged to the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, the others (49.552) in the Friulian parts of the Austrian Küstenland. Friulians were registered as their own category separate from Italians.

During World War I, Friuli was a theater of battle that had serious consequences for the civilian population, specifically the Battle of Caporetto.

Autonomist movements

After World War II, the pro-devolution movement gained momentum in 1945. Friuli got entangled in the maze of opposing forces acting in the territory. Yugoslavian Titoists pursued an annexation of Friuli to the rising communist Yugoslavia. By contrast, in 1945, the traditionalist association Patrie tal Friul was founded by Tiziano Tessitori with a view to establishing an autonomous Friuli within Italy.[6] The draft autonomic project was launched with the support of the Christian Democratic Party.

In January 1947, the poet and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini went on to found the party Movimiento Popolari Friulano, with the same purpose of devolution. Pasolini opposed a possible Yugoslavian annexation, but at the same time lashed out at those who aimed at using regionalism for their immobilist, "backwards Conservatism".[7] Pasolini dropped membership in his party after the Christian Democrats came to pull its strings. The Communist Party of Italy opposed devolution, sticking to an Italian centralist agenda.[8]

Around 350,000 people claim Friulan as their native language, though it is sparsely used in public life.[9] There are some movements and political parties that advocate a more autonomous, or even an independent Friuli in line with historical borders, such as the Friuli Movement, Front Furlan, Patrie Furlane and Republiche dal Friûl – Parlament furlan.

Regional languages and dialects

Bilingual road sign (Italian and Friulian) near San Vito al Torre

While standard Italian is the primary official language of the region, several other regional languages and dialects are spoken in Friuli.

Friulian is spoken in the provinces of Udine, Gorizia, and Pordenone.

Adriatic
coast.

In the southeastern part of Friuli, a Venetian transitional dialect is spoken, called Bisiaco, that has influences of both Slovene and Friulian.

Resian. According to the official estimates of the Italian government, between 45,000 and 51,000 Slovene speakers live in Friuli: around 11,000 in the Province of Gorizia, and the rest in the Province of Udine.[10] Due to emigration, most Slovene speakers in the Province of Udine live outside their traditional compact zone of settlement.[10]

German-related dialects (like Rogasaxon) are spoken in several ancient enclaves like Timau, Zahre (Sauris) and Plodn (Sappada).

Only Friulian, Slovenian and German are allowed to be local secondary official languages in their historic areas, but not their related dialects.

Asteroid

Asteroid

M.P.C. 111803).[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Friuli White Wines: Refreshing (and Sometimes Quirky)". IntoWine.com. 28 April 2007.
  2. ^ "Udine Rivolto: Record mensili dal 1969" (in Italian). Servizio Meteorologico dell'Aeronautica Militare. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  3. ^ "Udine/Rivolto (UD)" (PDF). Atlante climatico. Servizio Meteorologico. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  4. ^ Maier, Bernhard (2000). Die Kelten. Ulm. p. 119.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. .
  6. .
  7. ^ Siciliano, Enzo. 2014, p. 112
  8. ^ Pasolini held this move to be tactic, just a way of opposing the Christian Democratic stance.
  9. ^ Data sourced from the website of Italian publisher "Treccani": http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/identita-regionali-e-varieta-linguistiche-friuli-venezia-giulia-e-sardegna_%28L%27Italia-e-le-sue-Regioni%29/
  10. ^ a b "Prof. Samo Pahor: "Koliko je Slovencev v Italiji?"". Archived from the original on 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  11. ^ "212705 Friul (2007 RF15)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  12. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 17 October 2018.

External links


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