We're back

We're back from our four days in Cividale, a small but historically interesting city in Friuli. The opening of Eastern Europe has had a dramatic economic impact on Cividale and Friuli in general. During the sway of eastern bloc communism, this corner of Italy became rather isolated because of the closed border into Slovenia. Trieste, a once important port (the only seaport for the Austrian Hapsburgs), became marginalized in the long downturn. This long lasting economic hardship has now been reversed. We see quite a change in Cividale since our first visit in 1993, as the economic recovery has slowly taken hold - lots of restored buildings, new shops (in the old buildings of the old town), etc. The upshot is a charming city in a beatiful setting with few tourists, not a condition that will last. Although the Slovenian border is near (easy bicycling range to various crossings) we didn't venture across the border.

Cividale dates to pre Roman times. It was used by Rome as a frontier outpost, a protection against the various invaders from the north who liked the Natisone river valley as a transportation/invasion corridor. Sometime in the 600's it was conquered by the Longobards and their artistic artifacts are among the most interesting to be found here. The art in the Longobard chapel is very graceful and more abstract than that of Rome. One of my friends suggests that my family might have origins (based on stature) to the now forgotten Shortobards, suppressed effectively by the Longobards and now forgotten (even in the most detailed history books).

The reign of the artsy Longobards was ended by Charlemagne and then somewhat after that the city fell under the sway of the church patriarchs. Cividale was later held by Venice, became part of the Hapsburg empire, etc. before integrating into today's Italy. One finds slavic and germanic strands along with the italian.

The region is great for biking and has many streams coming out of the alps, most with occasional cold swimming holes. Near the alps and far enough from the tamer parts of Friuli, the water is quite clean.

We stayed at an apartment owned by friends of Julie and Georg. It is in the older part of Cividale's old town in a restored stone building. The exterior looks ancient, but well preserved. The interior is very modern and of high quality - wood floors, stucco, stone, and glass. The apartment has 3 floors with the first floor being one level up from the ground floor. Eli and I got the top floor with master bedroom and adjoining bathroom. The bottom floor of the apartment held the kitchen, living room, and an exterior veranda for meals in fair weather - which we were lucky enough to experience.

We had a chance to enjoy regional cusine and wines, guided by experts Julie and Georg. Nine year old Sophie and 16 year old Jessica are not only well behaved, but fun. I mostly took in the sights - the city is bisected by the Natisone river gorge so the scenery and buildings along this geographic feature is dramatic.

Richard
2004.06.02