A strip of Italy in which three ethnic groups have always lived together, Italian, Slovenian and German. This is the Tarvisio area, a region that due to its particular geographical position has been and still is not only a happy link with the rest of Europe, but also a real multicultural and multilingual center.
In the enchanted Forest of the Tarvisio
Here the absolute protagonist is the Forest of Tarvisio, one of the oldest in the European continent, which belonged to the Bavarian Vescovado of Bamberg and for more than seven centuries was part of the German principality then passed to Maria Theresa of Austria who bought it in 1759. After the Great War it re-entered the Italian State Property and with the Concordat of 1929 it was entrusted to the Fund for the Cult. And even today this marvelous wooded area of about 24,000 hectares at the foot of the Julian Alps is administered by the Fondo Edifici di Culto.
Nearby the scenarios are of incredible beauty in any season. We advise you to stay in Malborghetto Valbruna, a small village that, thanks to the wooden sculptures representing the animals of the forest and which animate the village, seems to jump out of the pages of a book of fairy tales.
And in a fairy tale it seemed to us to live for two days and two nights spent in the small town guests of Marina Gioitti and her husband Silvano Nicolaucich in their Casa Oberrichter, a real dollhouse carved in wood and crowded with small masterpieces carved and of antique goodies: we’ll talk about it in the #sognidoro category.
In the center of the village, facing each other, are the town hall building and the Palazzo Veneziano (via Bamberg, 52 – +39 0428 64970) which houses the Ethnographic Museum, a starting point for a fascinating journey to discover the area among the ten rooms where the permanent exhibits of fossils and objects related to everyday life and traditions can be admired.
From Valbruna starts the 5.5 km path called “The Forest Sound Track” that leads through the Val Canale in a resounding scenario at the foot of the Julian Alps in the presence of the giant green, majestic spruces called “Trees of Resonance” and ideal for the production of musical instruments such as violins, violas, cellos, guitars, harpsichords and pianos that are played in theaters and concerts all over the world.
The Julian and Carnic Alps are ideal destinations for those who love walking in the nature that here is the absolute protagonist with thick woods that climb up to the rugged peaks. But to the amazing natural beauty overlaps a history of great interest like that of Fort Hensel (for info: Municipality of Malborghetto-Valbruna +39 0428 64970 – Promoturismo FVG Tarvisio +39 0428 2135 – info@visitvalcanale.it), whose ruins are witnesses of the war events that shook the Val Canale during the First World War. Two paths that allow you to reach the Hapsburg fort retracing the tracks of the soldiers of the time.
We, with Otto still convalescent after the intervention at the forelimb, we preferred not to tire it so we only faced the minitrekking of Animalborghetto starting from Piazza Palazzo Veneziano, tells the life of the wood animals protagonists of the fairy tale designed by Lara Magri through the silhouettes painted by the artist Marina Gioitti that faithfully reproduce deer, roe deer, bears, marmots, chamois and so on.
Excursion not to be missed at the Fusine Lakes, on the border with Slovenia, considered among the major examples of Alpine lake in Europe: two lakes, Lake Superior and Lake Inferiore, set in a beautiful limestone amphitheater created by the ridge of the Peak of Mezzodì of Mangart Mount.
With our Otto we strolled through the trees of the woods around the two large, bright green waterways that are connected by underground.
On the way back you can enter some stages of the Puanina Tour, a thematic route that starts from the center of Ugovizza connects the mountain huts of these mountains of the Carnic Alps located on the edge of Friuli Venezia Giulia in the heart of the millennial Tarvisio Forest: a place of woods , pastures and enchanting peaks in the balance between Italy and Austria.
The complete tour crosses 18.5 kilometers of mountain pastures that include not only trekking in the nature but also tastings of authentic flavors at mountain refuges, mountain huts, cottages and inns.
Another unmissable stop is the Sanctuary on Mount Lussari, dedicated to the Madonna dei Popoli of Europe. The legend that Marina Gioitti told us about Casa Oberrichter tells of a shepherd boy who in 1360 found a statue of the Madonna on the top of the mountain. He took her down to the parish priest who carefully locked her in a closet, but the next day the statue was back on the mountain. The phenomenon was repeated several times and so it was decided to erect a chapel on the place of discovery.
Pilgrims still arrive from Carinthia, Slovenia and Friuli to venerate the small wooden statue of the Madonna and Child that Marina, a refined artist, reproducing as small sculptures and also richly painted wooden jewelry pendants and hand-painted in every small detail . How to resist? I bought the little Madonnas as a gift to my mother and my best friend and for me a pendant with a small chain of silver to wear at heart level.
