Discover Aiello del Friuli

Aiello del Friuli can be explored through several clearly distinct themes: artistic sundials, sacred art, traces of medieval buildings and the rural Green Route. There is also a museum dedicated to the history of eastern Friuli and recurring local events. These themes offer different focal points for planning your trip, ranging from art and church history to the rural landscape and the history of everyday life.

Sundials and the Green Route

Aiello del Friuli has more than eighty artistic sundials in various styles and from different periods. These include an altitude sundial, an equatorial sundial and a mosaic sundial. The number may change if installations are added or removed. The Centro didattico delle meridiane offers visitors an intuitive introduction to gnomonics; its visitor arrangements may change.

The Green Route offers a different focus. Between Joannis and Novacco, it connects villages, rural landscapes and springs, passing historic villas, tree-lined paths and sundials. One section, completely covered by trees, is called “the Gallery”. While the Centro didattico delle meridiane focuses on gnomonics, the route places sundials within a rural setting. Local conditions along the route may vary.

Church art and medieval traces

The parish church of Sant'Ulderico has been in use since 1691. Its dome was painted in 1900 by Clemente Delneri of Gorizia. The furnishings include the altars of the Souls in Purgatory and Saint Anthony the Abbot, with an altarpiece by Pietro Bainville. The church thus brings together two points in time: it has been in use since 1691, while the dome paintings date from 1900.

A medieval link can be found at the Centa outside Joannis. The remains of the former church of S. Agnese include part of the rear wall with the main altar and visible traces of frescoes on its exterior. The secular part of the Centa comprises two stone buildings from the Late Middle Ages. They may date from the 15th century; one is known as a “canipa”. The medieval Centa was probably a fortified defensive complex. The Centa thus brings together the structural remains of a former church and buildings from the secular part of the complex.

Everyday culture and local events

The Museo della Civiltà Contadina del Friuli Imperiale was founded in 1992 to preserve the everyday life and material culture of eastern Friuli. It focuses in particular on the former counties of Gorizia and Gradisca under Habsburg rule, from 1500 to 1918. The museum thus offers a different historical perspective from the medieval Centa: here the focus is on a long historical period, while the Centa preserves traces of buildings.

Local events also differ in their timing. The Festa delle Meridiane has been held in Aiello del Friuli since 2001; its exact dates vary. The Fiera di San Carlo is held every year and has been around for almost two centuries. The local character also includes the production of goose salami. This culinary connection adds an aspect of local production to the themes of art, history and the rural landscape.

Discover more destinations: Forni Avoltri, Bagnaria Arsa, Chiusaforte, Torviscosa, Buja, San Giovanni Al Natisone, Nimis, Moimacco.

For the regional travel overview: Udine.