Tarvisio ( German and ; ) is a (municipality) in the Regional Decentralization Entity of Udine, in the autonomous

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 ...

region of

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 ...

Geography

The town is in the Canal Valley (''Val Canale'') between the

Carnic Alps The Carnic Alps (; ; ; ) are a range of the Southern Limestone Alps in Austria and northeastern Italy. They are within Austrian East Tyrol and Carinthia, and Italian Friuli (Province of Udine) and marginally in Veneto. Etymology They are ...

and

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks (; , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west direction, the Karawanks chain is o ...

ranges in the north and the

Julian Alps The Julian Alps (, , , , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large part of the Julian Alps is inclu ...

in the south. Located at the border with both

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, Tarvisio and its neighbouring municipalities of Arnoldstein and

Kranjska Gora Kranjska Gora (; ) is a town in northwestern Slovenia, on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region, close to the Austrian and Italy, Italian borders. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kranjska Gora. The tripoint between Austria, It ...

form the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

of Romance, Germanic and

Slavic Europe Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slavi ...

. The height west of the town centre marks the watershed between the Slizza creek, a tributary of the Gail River which is part of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

basin and the Fella River, a tributary of the Tagliamento discharging into the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

. Tarvisio together with the rest of the Canal Valley was part of Austria until 1919. Tarvisio has access to the ''A23 Alpe-Adria'' autostrada, part of the

European route E55 European route E55 is an E-route. It starts in southern Sweden, crosses the Øresund strait to Denmark, and passes through more water (the western Baltic Sea) to reach continental Europe on Rostock, Germany. Thence it continues further southwar ...

, running from the Austrian '' A2 Süd Autobahn'' to

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

, and the A4 autostrada at Palmanova. The Tarvisio railway station is located at the new ''Pontebbana'' line from Villach to Udine opened in 2000, that replaced the tracks of the former Austro-Hungarian k.k. ''Staatsbahn'' built in 1879.

History

As a place upon ancient trade routes across the Alps to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, Tarvisio's roots date back to Roman times. In 1007 Emperor

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

vested the newly created Diocese of Bamberg with the Carinthian Canal Valley down to Pontebba, a region which had considerable importance because of nearby ore mines and

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...

, especially around the village of Fusine in Valromana (''Weißenfels''/''Bela Peč''/''Fusinis''). Tarvisio remained a southern exclave of the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg, until in 1758 the bishop finally sold Tarvisio to the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

Empress

Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position in her own right. She was the sovereig ...

. Until 1918 it was part of the

Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (; ; ) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial State after the original German stem duchies. Car ...

, it received

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in 1909.

Climate

Despite the modest elevation, the city has a continental climate with cold winters (lowest recorded temperature is in January 1985). Summers can be very hot (highest recorded temperature of in July 1983).

Languages

As a former component of the Austrian Empire, until 1918, the town, as was the rest of the Canal Valley, was overwhelmingly German- and Slovenian-speaking. Today the municipality speaks mostly

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

; German-speakers and Slovenes make up a small minority. In 1983 the town registered 84% Italian-speakers, 9% German-speakers and 7% Slovene-speakers. In 2012, the mayor put up multilingual signs in four languages, Italian, German, Slovene, and the regional minority language of Friulian, saying "the inhabitants deserve to use their mother tongues freely."

Parishes

The comune of Tarvisio includes the following ''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'' (fractional parishes): :Names in: Italian (''German'', ''Slovene'', ''Friulian''): * Camporosso (''Saifnitz'', ''Žabnice'', ''Cjamparos'') *

Cave del Predil Cave del Predil (, ) is a ''frazione'' subdivision of the ''comune'' of Tarvisio in the Province of Udine, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy. Geography The hamlet is located about 15 km (9 mi) south of the Tarvis ...

(''Raibl'', ''Rabelj'', ''Rabil''/''Predil'') * Coccau (''Goggau'', ''Kokova'', ''Cocau'') * Fusine in Valromana (''Weißenfels''/''Weissenfels'', ''Fužine''/''Bela Peč'', ''Fusinis'') * Monte Lussari (''Luschariberg'', ''Svete Višarje'', ''Mont Sante di Lussari'') * Muda (''Mauth'', ''Muta'', ''Mude'') * Plezzut (''Flitschl'', ''Flíčl'', ''Pleçùt'') * Poscolle (''Hinterschloss'', ''Zágradec'', ''Puscuèl'') * Rutte (''Greuth'', ''Trbiške rute'', ''Rute'') * Sant'Antonio (''Sankt Anton'', ''Sveti Anton'', ''Sant Antòni'') * Riofreddo (''Kaltwasser'', ''Mrzla Voda'') Riofreddo Tarvisio Italy

Main sights

Tarvisio features include the parish church Saints Peter and Paul, built in the 15th century, as well as sceneries like the ''Fusine laghi'' mountain lakes. At the summit of the Mount Lussari (, , ) is a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

church, where according to legend in 1360 a shepherd discovered a statue of

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. The church and the nearby ski centre can be reached by cable car from Malborghetto Valbruna (, ). The area around the Sella Nevea mountain pass between Tarvisio and Chiusaforte is also a popular ski resort.

Economy

For decades, Tarvisio benefited economically from people coming from Austria and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

for shopping trips. However, trade at the notorious "Rag Market" diminished after the implementation of

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

and the establishment of the

Eurozone The euro area, commonly called the eurozone (EZ), is a Monetary union, currency union of 20 Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (Euro sign, €) as their primary currency ...

. Today,

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

and winter sports in the

, the

, and the

have become important industries. Tarvisio is known for its heavy alpine snow, which attracts many tourists for skiing and snowboarding, especially school groups. It was host to the 2003 Winter Universiade and the Women's 2007 Alpine Skiing World Cup.

Transport

* Tarvisio Boscoverde railway station

Notable people

People who were born or lived in Tarvisio include: * Lambert Ehrlich (1878–1942), Slovene Roman Catholic priest, political figure, and ethnologist * Nives Meroi, Italian mountaineer who summit all fourteen eight thousand meter peaks in the world

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Friuli-Venezia Giulia Carnic Alps Ski areas and resorts in Italy