Friuli

Friuli is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak 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, now Cividale del Friuli.

Geography

Friuli is bordered on the west by the Veneto region with the border running along the Livenza river, on the north by the crest of the Carnic Alps between Carnia and Austrian Carinthia, on the east by the Julian Alps, the border with Slovenia and the Timavo river, and on the south by the Adriatic Sea. The adjacent Slovene parts of the Soča/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 Southern Limestone Alps. From west to east, the region's highest peaks are, in the Carnic Prealps —the Cima dei Preti,, Duranno, and Cridola ; in the Carnic Alps—Peralba, Monte Bìvera and Coglians ; in the Julian Alps, the Jôf Fuârt, the Jôf di Montasio, Mangart, and Canin, which dominates the plain.
Rivers flowing southwards from the mountains are numerous. The Friulian mountains surround the course of the Tagliamento river, which, at the latitude of Gemona del Friuli first crosses the hills that occupy the center of the Friuli, then flows into a large flood plain. This plain is commonly divided into the High Friulian plain and the Low Friulian plain, whose boundary is the Napoleonic road that connects the cities of Codroipo and Palmanova. To the south of this road is the risorgive zone, where water resurfaces from underground waterways in spring-fed pools throughout the area. South of the plains lie the lagoons of Marano and Grado, which are nature reserves. Other important rivers include the Torre, Natisone, Stella, Isonzo/Soča, and Ausa.
Friuli covers an area of, subdivided among the provinces of Udine, Pordenone and Gorizia. 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 humid subtropical. The climate in this area is suitable for growing white wine grapes, and 2.5% of wine produced in Italy comes from this part of the region. The hills, however, have a continental climate, and the mountainous regions have an alpine climate. On the coast the mean annual temperature is, while in the inner plains, the average is lowered to ; Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia ). Further north, in Tolmezzo, the average temperature is approximately. The lowest values are recorded in the Alps: at Passo di Monte Croce Carnico and between in Val Canale, which is situated above sea level. In the coldest month, January, temperatures vary between approximately in Monfalcone and nearly in Passo di Monte Croce Carnico, with intermediate temperatures of in Udine and in Valcanale. Gorizia, a short distance from Udine, enjoys a particularly milder micro-climate with its approximate annual average of. In the warmest month, July, the temperatures range between along the coast and plains and between in Val Canale.
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 , whereas the alpine area's maximum annual rainfall is approximately. The Julian Prealps is one of Italy's rainiest regions: Musi receives about of annual precipitation, sometimes even 5000 mm, and can receive 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 but falls more consistently further to the north.
The following weatherbox is from Udine, the main city of Friuli.

Demography

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

Zona	Population	Land area	Population density
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, 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

In the prehistoric era, Friuli was home to the Castellieri culture and the Raeti. These peoples 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 also settled by the Carni, 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 the Carni inhabited "the country about the Adriatic Gulf and Aquileia" and both Pliny and Ptolemy 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. A northern mountainous area of Friuli still retains the ancient name Carnia.
Beginning from the 2nd century BC, Friuli was colonized by the Romans: Aquileia was the fourth largest city of Italy during Roman imperial times, capital of Regio X of the Italia province. The city was the most important river port on the Natissa river, dominating trade between the Adriatic Sea and northern Europe. Aquileia owed its importance to the strategic position it has on the Adriatic sea and its proximity to the Alps. This location allowing Rome to intercept barbarian invasions from the East. Julius Caesar quartered his legions in Aquileia during winter. The development of other centers, such as Forum Iulii and Iulium Carnicum, contributed to the increase in economic and cultural wealth of Friuli until the first barbarian incursions, at the beginning of the 5th century. In the final decades of the 3rd century, Aquileia became the center of one of the most prestigious bishoprics of the empire, competing in Italy with Milan and, subsequently, Ravenna, for second place to Rome. A Hun invasion marked the start of Friuli's decline: Aquileia, protected by meager forces, was forced to surrender and was razed to the ground by Attila in 452. After the retreat of the Huns, the survivors, who had found shelter in the lagoon of Grado, returned to the city, but found it completely destroyed. The reconstruction of Aquileia was never completed and it never regained the old splendour of the capital of X Regio. The city remained important even after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, due to the creation of 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

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, 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 Avars and Slavs from Pannonia. Among the duchies of the North, which were closely aligned with the crown, it was the most powerful, probably due to its 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, 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 Lake Garda, the capital moved to Verona, and a new 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 Emperor Henry IV granted the county of Friuli, with ducal status, to Sigaerd, Patriarch of Aquileia. In the succeeding centuries, the patriarchate expanded its control over neighboring Trieste, Istria, Carinthia, Styria, and Cadore. The patriarchal state of Friuli was one of the best organized polities of the Italian Middle Ages. From the 12th century it possessed a parliament representing the communes as well as the nobility and the clergy. This institution only survived six centuries, remaining alive yet weak even during Venetian domination. It convened for the last time in 1805, when it was abolished by Napoleon Bonaparte. The Patriarch Marquard of Randeck had gathered together and codified all the laws of Friuli and promulgated them as the Constitutiones Patriae Foriiulii. 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.