★ Town · Trieste and the KarstSgonicoCourtyards and cellars of Karst farms that open for a few days a year, serving home-made wine, hard-boiled eggs, cured meats and cheeses.
The storyIn 1784 Emperor Joseph II of Habsburg allowed farmers to sell their own produce directly, tax-free, for eight days a year: the name osmiza comes from «osem», eight in Slovene. The tradition has survived: when an osmiza is open, a leafy branch hung upside down marks the house, and more branches at the crossroads point the way.
Full page, why go and what's nearby →★ History and art · Trieste and the KarstDuino-AurisinaA castle on a white cliff dropping sheer to the sea, linked to Sistiana by a scenic path through holm oaks and karst rock.
The storyIn the winter of 1911–1912 the poet Rainer Maria Rilke was the guest of Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis at the castle. Walking on the cliff on a day of bora, by his own account, he heard a voice dictating the first line of what became the «Duino Elegies», among the most important works of 20th-century poetry. The path that bears his name follows the coast for about two kilometres.
Full page, why go and what's nearby →★ History and art · Udine, Cividale, the Collio and GoriziaPulferoA medieval church built at the entrance to a cave, in a rock face above the Natisone valleys, reached by a stairway.
The storyThe cave was lived in and used as a refuge from prehistoric times, and in the Middle Ages it became a place of worship and a small fortress. The 15th-century church at the entrance has a gilded wooden altarpiece, and beyond it you enter the cave, which has an underground stream running through it. The Natisone valleys are home to a Slovene-speaking community with its own traditions and cooking.
Full page, why go and what's nearby →★ Town · Udine, Cividale, the Collio and GoriziaGoriziaA Habsburg town of palazzi, gardens and a castle, with a square crossed by a border line.
The storyIn 1947 the peace treaty divided the town: Gorizia stayed in Italy, while the eastern part, with the Transalpina station, went to Yugoslavia, which built the new town of Nova Gorica next to it. For decades a wall and a fence cut the station square in two. In 2004, when Slovenia joined the European Union, the fence was removed, and in 2025 Nova Gorica and Gorizia were jointly European Capital of Culture.
Full page, why go and what's nearby →★ Town · Carnia and the Julian AlpsVenzoneA medieval village with a double ring of walls and a Gothic cathedral, at the foot of the mountains along the Tagliamento.
The storyThe 1976 earthquakes razed Venzone to the ground. Instead of building a new town, the people decided to rebuild it as it had been: the stones of the cathedral were gathered, numbered and catalogued one by one and put back in place, using a technique called anastylosis. It is one of the most extraordinary restorations in Europe. The crypt of San Michele holds several natural mummies, found in the 19th century.
Full page, why go and what's nearby →★ Town · Carnia and the Julian AlpsSaurisA village of wooden houses at 1,200 metres, above a green lake, in a valley of Carnia.
The storySauris is a linguistic island: its people descend from German-speaking settlers who came here from the Austrian valleys in the Middle Ages, and they still speak an old Germanic dialect, Saurano. Isolation has preserved the wooden houses, the traditions and the smoked prosciutto, which has its own festival every summer.
Full page, why go and what's nearby →★ Town · Carnia and the Julian AlpsPrato CarnicoThe village of clocks, in the Pesarina valley, with large mechanical and artistic clocks dotted around the streets and a museum.
The storyThe Solari family has been making clocks here since 1725: first for bell towers, then for railway stations and factories. In the 20th century the firm invented the split-flap display boards which, flipping with their unmistakable clatter, showed departures and arrivals for decades in airports and stations all over the world. The village clock trail displays examples of every kind, from water clocks to planetary clocks.
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