History of Friuli-Venezia Guilia & the Colli Orientali
But let’s take a moment to get our bearings.
We find ourselves in the northeast corner of Italy, in the region of Friuli-Venezia Guilia (free-OO-lee Ven-NET-see-uh JOO-lee-uh), often now just referred to as Friuli. Bordered to the North by Austria, east by Slovenia, south to the Adriatic Sea, and West to the Veneto, this region is a cultural mash-up with influences from the neighboring countries as well as Croatia, which is less than 30 km as the crow flies, over the border in Slovenia.
This region is comprised of 4 Provinces:
- Pordenone sits to the west bordering the Veneto,
- Trieste, which tucks around the Adriatic, keeping Slovenia from the sea for some 40 kilometers of coastline,
- Gorizia, which picks up from Trieste, covers a bit of the Adriatic coast and creeps up the border to Slovenia, and the
- Udine, which covers the most significant portion of the region.