Latisana (, locally ) is a town and (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine in the region of

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...

, north-eastern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, on the

Tagliamento The Tagliamento (; ; ) is a braided river in north-east Italy, flowing from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea at a point between Trieste and Venice. The Tagliamento river is considered as the last morphologically intact river in the Alps. (I ...

river.

History

The city was probably a Roman post station (''Mansio Apicilia'') on the

Via Annia The Via Annia was the Roman road in Venetia in north-eastern Italy. It run on the low plains of the lower River Po and of the lower Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions, an area which had many rivers and large marsh areas and bordered the coa ...

which connected Concordia to

Aquileia Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river Natiso (modern Natisone), the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times. Today, the city is small ( ...

. The city is first mentioned in 1072, and became an important river port in the 12 and 13th centuries, especially known for salt trade, under the counts of

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

. In the 12th century it became an autonomous commune, annexed by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

in 1420. The trade declined in the late years of the Republic of Venice, and the city was acquired by the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

with the

Treaty of Campo Formio The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The trea ...

(1797). In 1814 it became part of the client

Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia (), commonly called the "Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom" (; ), was a constituent land (crown land) of the Austrian Empire from 1815 to 1866. It was created in 1815 by resolution of the Congress of Vienna in recogniti ...

and, in 1866, of the newly formed

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. During the 20th century wars it suffered heavy damage, especially in the bombing of 19 May 1944 that destroyed the historical centre. Further damage was caused by the floods of the Tagliamento in 1965 and 1966.

Twin towns

Latisana is twinned with: *

Reichenau an der Rax Reichenau an der Rax is a market town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, situated at the foot of the Rax mountain range on the ''Schwarza (Leitha), Schwarza'' river, a headstream of the Leitha. History Reichenau castle was first mentioned ...

, Austria, since 2005

Main sights

The Cathedral (

Duomo ''Duomo'' (, ) is an Italian term for a church with the features of, or having been built to serve as a cathedral, whether or not it currently plays this role. The Duomo of Monza, for example, has never been a diocesan seat and is by definitio ...

) was rebuilt in the 17th century over the old 1504 edifice. The main attractions are the canvas portraying the ''Baptism of Jesus'' (1567) by

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana (Veronese), The Wedding ...

and a wooden ''Crucifix'' (1566) by Andrea Fosco. The choir has a ''Transfiguration'' (1591) by Marco Moro and the first altar on the left has a ''Holy Family with Saints'' by Giovan Battista Grassi (1568).

Transportation

* Latisana-Lignano-Bibione railway station

External links

Official website
Cities and towns in Friuli-Venezia Giulia {{FriuliVeneziaGiulia-geo-stub