Tolmezzo is a town and comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

in the province of Udine

Province of Udine

The Province of Udine is a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, bordering Austria and Slovenia. Its capital is the city of Udine....

, part of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...

 region of north-eastern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Geography

Tolmezzo is located at the feet of the Strabut Mountain, between the Tagliamento River and the Bût stream. Nearby is the Mount Amariana (1,906 m). The commune includes aso the five frazioni of Cadunea (Friulian: Cjadugnee), Caneva (Cjanive), Casanova (Cjasegnove), Fusea (Fusee), Illegio (Dieç), Imponzo (Dimponç).

History

The existence of Tolmezzo (called Tolmetium) is first documented in the late 1st millennium

1st millennium

File:1st millennium montage.png|From left, clockwise: Depiction of Jesus, the central figure in Christianity; The Colosseum, a landmark of the once Roman Empire; Gunpowder is invented during the latter part of the millennium, in China; Chess, a new board game, takes on popularity across the globe;...

 CE, when it was part of the Patriarchate of Aquileia, but it has been suggested that the town stemmed from a very ancient pre-Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 settlement. In Roman times, the area was crossed by one of the main Roman roads that connect Italy to what is now Austria.

The city had a flourishing market, and was defended by a line of walls with 18 towers and by the castle of the Patriarchs. In 1420, it was annexed to the Republic of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

, but its trades and industries did not suffer from the change, and the city maintained its privileges. In 1797, with the Treaty of Campo Formio

Treaty of Campo Formio

The Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 18 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of revolutionary France and the Austrian monarchy...

, it was handed over to the Austrian Empire

Austrian Empire

The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

, and, after a short Napoleonic rule, it was included in the client Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia.

Tolmezzo became part of the new unified Kingdom of Italy in 1866.

Main sights

• The Duomo (cathedral)
• Palazzo Campeis (late 18th century)