Articles

Ippolito Nievo (Padua 1831-Tyrrhenian Sea 1861) was a writer and a patriot. His mother’s mother, Ippolita di Colloredo, belonged to a Friulian noble family. Aged 14, the writer chose to be called Ippolito among a long list of names he had been christened with. At the time of Nievo, Friuli was still a land of castles, feudal traditions and strong contrast, something he extensively described in his masterpiece “Confessions of an Italian”. Beside the castle of Colloredo, his grandmother’s family also owned the castle of Fratta – his best-known literary site – by then actually a modest residence, more similar to a country manor than a castle, surrounded by weak walls.

Awarded as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, Cordovado still preserves its medieval look. Don’t miss a visit to the castle area and its hamlet, the ancient Church of S. Andrea and the Renaissance development of the village. One of the places recalled by IPPOLITO NIEVO in his novel is Casa Provedoni, which lies boldly between the church and a tavern, where the legendary baker and smuggler Spaccafumo is portrayed in a statue nearby. At a short distance from the village, near a small group of country houses, embedded at the foot of three brick steps lies the famous fountain of  Venchiaredo, which is in fact a former well collecting the water of a resurgent river. The fountain is in Nievo’s novel a mythical place and an amplifier of his love feelings. Also PIER PAOLO PASOLINI wrote a lyric about this fountain. Another beautiful site lies very close to Cordovado: Sesto al Reghena is the seat of a very ancient Benedictine abbey standing in a wonderful natural setting and embellished by valuable fresco paintings. Ramuscello nearby is where the country festival at the centre of PASOLINI’s scandal was held, the very reason why he left Friuli.