The lands of Carnia 1

The lands of Carnia 1

Houses in stone and wood, ancient carnival rituals, a cuisine imbued with flavours lost elsewhere, and above all the people, who in Forni di Sopra, Ovaro, Raveo, Sauris and Sutrio help you rediscover the slow rhythm of times gone by. Authentic architecture H olidaying in one of the borghi autentici (authentic villages) in Friuli Venezia Giulia, in Forni di Sopra, Raveo, Sauris, Sutrio and Ovaro, means being hosted by a rare quality of people, people who love welcoming others into their community and helping them rediscover the slow rhythms of times gone by. People, places, flavours and traditions all speak of a magically preserved authenticity. Forni di Sopra, dominated by the majestic peaks of the Dolomites, welcomes you into its spacious courtyards and narrow lanes featuring rural houses in stone and wood, with wide upstair landings where hay was once dried. Raveo, nestled in a sunny dell at the foot of Col Gentile, exudes the charm of an authentic village. Sapori di Carnia, its village food festival, celebrates the flavours of a cuisine imbued with the culture and the history of these places. In Sauris, a marvellous village of German origin, you will be welcomed into mountain-style dwellings built in stone and wood. The influence of the German culture can be seen in the village s countless traditions and folk festivals, including the Carnival, one of the oldest across the Alps. Finally, a stroll through the lanes in Sutrio, a beautiful mountain village, will lead you to a host of workshops of skilled artisans who, during the Magia del Legno festival each September, demonstrate their great creativity and skill in the courtyards of the houses: the same courtyards where the nativity scenes made by the marangons, the local wood sculptors, are carefully displayed every year at Christmas. 3

The taste of tradition Sapori di Carnia: a festival of the flavours of a land where nature reigns at the dining table too. Simple, genuine ingredients give life to ancient dishes or to creatively revised recipes. From the wild herbs, which season omelettes and gnocchi, to the cjarsòns, frico and... M outh-watering and strictly seasonal, Carnic cuisine uses genuine, natural ingredients, which the mountain climate imbues with a special, richer flavour. This typical cuisine faithfully mirrors its people, and was developed over the centuries and naturally conserved in valleys, rivers and woods which were more or less hidden by a backdrop of mountains. However it is also a renewed cuisine which adds an original touch to traditional dishes, embracing the evolution of taste. For lovers of genuine food, Carnia is a trove to discover. In Sauris/Zahre, give in to the temptation of its exquisite prosciutto crudo: this cured ham has been produced from time immemorial, using original techniques and is lightly smoked to give it an unmistakably sweet flavour. In July, there is a two-weekend festival in its honour: a must for gourmets. The famed hams are ideally served with the beers brewed in the Sauris di Sopra beer factory. The delicious Carnic herb-based cuisine is also of very ancient tradition. In spring, amid the mountains of Forni di Sopra, there is a joyous flourishing of wild herbs and flowers, such as silene, mountain asparagus and chicory; these are the basic ingredients for a number of fanciful dishes that can be tasted along itineraries calling in at famed restaurants. And to delight all gourmets, every year during the Carnia in Tavola food festival, a number of famous restaurants propose their own menu, each based on a different dish. It is hard to resist the temptations of the palate: you can try the most traditional local dishes, such as cjarsòns (ravioli with a sweet filling), frico con polenta (a fragrant dish of malga cheese fried with potato and served with polenta), pork shops with savoy cabbage, muset e brovade (cotechino served with sour turnip marinated in marc), gnocchi alla carnica or apple gnocchi... 4 5

Ye olde shopping The people from Carnia hold an ancient wisdom in their hands, expressed in handicrafts made in wood, ceramic, iron and stone. It is thread through the delicate weaving of fabrics and also pampers your feet in the typical velvet scarpetz. T he people from Carnia have not only managed to preserve the beauty of its nature and reap the best fruits of its land. They have also used their hands to shape materials into expressive handicrafts. The best places for discovering and seeing this creativity express itself is in the craftsmen s workshops. Here the main materials used are wood, ceramic, iron, marble and stone. Weaving is another of their skills. Woodworking is undoubtedly the most widespread craft. Sutrio, one of the most charming villages in Carnia, is known as the village of the marangons, local carpenters and wood sculptors. Theirs is an ancient art handed down from generation to generation, over the centuries; still today you can purchase furniture carved in ancient decorative styles, wooden homeware, statues and basreliefs. But it is surprising to learn that Carnia also boasts an ancient skill in weaving. Heirs of a tradition whose roots date back to the eighteenth century, the workshops thread valuable original patterns into their fabrics and weave soft rugs and items of clothing. Potters are busy workers too, and you may well come across workshops, perhaps squeezed in between the arches of the typical Carnic edifices, where you can admire their handicrafts to the background hum of the potter s wheel. The characteristic velvet footwear decorated in floral embroidery called scarpetz are also handmade in Carnia. With these on your feet, you can let your mind wander through the magic atmospheres of these lands, as you look forward to visiting them once again. 6 7

From the Parco delle Colline Carniche, with its gentle trails to follow on foot, horseback or on a mountain bike, to the Parco Naturale delle Dolomiti Friulane, where trekking and mountaineering are superb between the majestic heights. Many tiny treasures are hidden amid the mountains, waterfalls and canyons, right down as far as the lake on Volaia... Places and delig hts of nature T he Parco Intercomunale delle Colline Carniche (park of the carnic hills) owes its name to the gentle sloping heights interweaving a charming sunlit hilly backdrop covered in meadows and woodlands. It is the ideal place for cultural and nature excursions for all ages. Some of its trails may be followed on a mountain bike or on horseback, starting out from the stables situated inside the Pineta di Villa Santina. The Parco Naturale delle Dolomiti Friulane is a protected area featuring Dolomitic peaks and splendid natural backdrops. A genuine paradise for excursions, trekking and mountaineering. Indeed Carnia offers dozens of sites of remarkable environmental and natural value: lakes, waterfalls, canyons: little known but enchanting and spectacular treasures hidden among the mountains. There are exciting excursions in the Canyon del Torrente Vinadia above Villa Santina and in the Forra de Las Callas: here the Chiarsò stream flows down to an impenetrable gorge, which you can glimpse from a path dug into the overhanging rock. The Lake and Oasis of Bordaglia, lying in the meadows at the foot of Monte Volaia, are two of the most spectacular places in Friuli Venezia Giulia, inhabited by chamois, roe deer, marmots and a rich avifauna. 8 9

C arnia pulsates with a world of folklore customs and usages offering images, sounds and fragrances which become engraved in your memory. Like, for example, the ancestral agricultural rituals tied to the seasons, celebrated many times a year in traditional festivals and sagras. Then there are the rituals for the Epiphany, for Carnival and for the harvest. If you stroll through the Carnia villages at Christmas time, watch out for las cidulas, blazing wooden discs that village youngsters launch into the dark night with messages of goodwill. In Sauris, legendary figures accompany the oldest carnival in the Alps. There are two main characters featured in the event: the Kheirar, king of the masks whose duty it is to lead the festival and the Rolar, who announces the beginning of the masquerade. There are also a host of legends passed down from one generation to the next, folk tales where fact and fiction, common sense and superstition merge together. As you walk through the woods, the silence might be broken by rustling or whispering: so take a quick look around - you may be lucky enough to catch sight of the Sbilfs, comical, spiteful elfins inhabiting the Carnia forests. Ancestral agricultural rituals tied to the flow of the seasons and to daily life in this magical mountain microcosm have nurtured folklore customs which are still very much alive today, particularly at Epiphany, Carnival time and harvest time. With blazing discs thrown from the hillsides and elfins in the woods. Once upon a time 10 11

Clocks borne of an eighteenth century tradition, fifteenthcentury blacksmiths, mills still working as they did in the seventeenth century. An ancient world, relived in the Carnic museums, touches modern-day society with its wisdom, filling the air with melodious notes of fortepianos and harpsichords and warming kitchens with the fogolâr. Traces of culture R ediscover the ancient traditions and understand the real essence of the Carnic culture, by visiting the large number of museums scattered throughout the area. The most important of these is undoubtedly the Museo delle arti e tradizioni popolari Michele Gortani in Tolmezzo. This museum of folk arts and traditions has faithfully reproduced a typical Carnic house; with its Friulian kitchen and characteristic fogolâr, it is a symbol of this land, whose image it can evoke worldwide. Stop off in Illegio, at the Mulin dal Flec, to see how grain was once milled. Or visit the Farie di Checo in Cercivento, a fifteenth-century factory which depicts the typical blacksmith s workshop and shows the whole iron working process. At the Mozartina, in Paularo, visitors are completely enveloped in music in this live museum, with the notes of fortepianos, harpsichords and violins belonging to a very rich private collection of ancient musical instruments. The Museo dell Orologeria pesarina is a most unusual clockmaking museum situated in Pesariis, one of the most characteristic villages in Carnia, brought to fame by its unusual craftsmen s trade dating back to the eighteenth century: the production of clocks, still sold all over Europe. 12 13

Nature and... wellbeing In the snowy winter and the bright green summer, outdoor activities are the ideal way for living in harmony in such an expressive natural setting. Travel on foot, skis, horseback or on a bicycle, then treat yourself to wonderful breaks in bivouacs, refuges and malghe, before immerging yourself in the regenerating Terme di Arta spa. T here are two colours for sports in Carnia: white and green, colours which flow one into the other with the changing seasons. White prevails on ski slopes and the mountains in winter while green takes over in spring and summer, with countless shades colouring the meadows and trees. Practising sports in Carnia means living in harmony with nature. Any outdoor sport is in close contact with the unspoilt environment, as are outdoor leisure activities. Bivouacs, refuges and malghe are scattered along hundreds of paths to welcome and provide refreshments for ramblers. Carnia offers exciting horseback rides too, along the trails and in the trenches of the front line of the Great War or along the Via delle Malghe, an itinerary linking the mountain dairies, where you can discover the flavours of these lands. And at the end of a tiring day outdoors, there is nothing better than treating yourself to a few hours in the Terme di Arta spa, the ideal place for spending a regenerating wellbeing holiday for getting your body back into shape or simply for relaxing in an unspoilt natural environment. 14 15

AUSTRIA CARNIA TARVISIO SLOVENIA PORDENONE UDINE GORIZIA TRIESTE Easy to reach, hard to forget TURISMO FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA Piazza Manin, 10 loc. Passariano 33033 Codroipo (Ud) - Italy tel. +39 0432 815111 fax +39 0432 815199 info@turismo.fvg.it TEL. 0039 0432 734100 DSF design / photo: Da Pozzo, Museo delle Arti Popolari Michele Gortani / printed by: Graphart FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL, SEND THIS COUPON TO: AGENZIA TURISMOFVG, PIAZZA MANIN 10, 33033 CODROIPO (UD), ITALY, OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE. name surname date of birth: day month year street address postcode city country tel. mobile phone e-mail SEA MOUNTAINS/SKIING MOUNTAINS IN SUMMER SPORTS TOURISM NATURE TOURISM CULTURAL TOURISM FOOD AND WINE TOURS CONGRESS TOURISM CITIES OF ART SPA AND HEALTH TOURISM TOURISM FOR SENIOR CITIZENS SCHOOL TOURISM OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) I hereby authorize the Agenzia TurismoFVG to communicate my details to both public and private tourist operators in order to receive information and promotional material relating to tourism initiatives in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. YES NO Under the terms of art. 13 of D. Lgs. 196/2003, I am hereby informed that the office handling personal data is the Agenzia TurismoFVG. Data will be used exclusively for sending requested promotional material. The party concerned can at any time revoke use of this data by contacting the l Agenzia TurismoFVG in person or by writing to info@turismo.fvg.it. Further information regarding the usage of personal data is available on our website. signature