AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy -- Travelers can visit many different historical sites and experience a mixture of traditions, languages and religions within the diverse Friuli Venezia Giulia region, a region that borders Austria, Croatia and Slovenia.
“Everywhere you go, you find something that talks,” said Retired Italian air force Brig. Gen. Gianfranco Da Forno. “Even the stones talk to you about our history.”
During the Roman Empire era, the region was known as the Julian region, and was divided after barbarian invasions. In the 2nd century AD, Aquileia had approximately 100,000 residences. The Huns invaded Aquileia and burned it down in 452 AD. The town was rebuilt but it was not the same. In 590 AD, Aquileia was burnt down again by the Lombards. The town was once again rebuilt. It wasn’t until the rise of the Roman Catholic presence did the invasions slowly start to subside.
The rise of the Roman Catholic patriarchate of Aquileia is what helped bring the region under the control of the church’s sovereignty, causing the invasions to slowly subside. Despite this, the Patriarchate was transferred to Venice in 1450.
Venice became a great power in the northeastern region, along with the Austrian towns of Gorizia and Trieste, and became a strategic location for military and trade.
Approximately 400 years later, the region fell under Habsburg rule. Habsburg Monarchy is a term used by historians for the numerous lands and kings of the Habsburg dynasty, which lasted from 1438 to 1806.
The Habsburg Dynasty eventually lost control of parts of northeastern Italy, and gave the opportunity for Udine - which includes Pordenone – to become part of Italy again in 1866. The rest of the region followed suit and joined in 1918.
Trieste belonged to the Habsburg Monarchy from 1382 until 1918, as it was a very important seaport for the Mediterranean region. After World War II, the area around Trieste became part of Yugoslavia, and Udine integrated with Gorizia province to officially form the FVG region.
The London agreement of 1954 restored the city of Trieste to the FVG region, and it became the region’s capital.
Only 52 years ago, the province of Pordenone was formed. Pordenone became a garrison for many military units after World War II to prevent invasions coming from the east.
The FVG region is very rich with many different historical events, and there is a piece of history everywhere you turn.