Tarvisio to Pontebba

As you come into Tarvisio (Tarvis) you pass through the old Tarvisio Citta’ station. A little further on, look out for the church on your right-hand side (not that you can miss it really). In particular look for the two round towers with conical roofs; the walls and towers were built around the church in the 15th century as a defensive measure against incur­sions by the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

From Tarvisio the cycleway goes gently uphill to Camporosso (820m) before starting the downhill cruise to Pontebba.

New section of the Ciclovia Alpe-Adria (FVG1) near Malborghetto

In 2016 two new sections of cycleway were opened taking you past the new Ugovizza-Valbruna station. If you’re looking for a place to eat or a place to stay then you might still want to consider taking the old route that takes quiet roads to Valbruna.

The cycleway also passes in front of the old station at Ugovizzo now reborn as a bar-trattoria (Da Lucia), with a play area if you’re travelling with little ones.

The two new sections mean that the ride is very straight­forward until almost Pontebba where things get a little more complicated. 

Just before Pontebba there’s a section of the route where you weave in and out of the feet of the motorway viaduct, before coming out onto the Via Deposito which takes you to the bridge over the railway (look out for Pontebba’s church). There’s then a short steepish descent that brings you out onto the main street in front of the tourist inform­ation office. Turn right and continue over the bridge which, until 1918, marked the border between Austria and Italy. 

Pontebba to Moggio Udinese

Coming out of Pontebba you turn right just before you reach the SS13 and climb past the chapel (Capella di San Rocco) and then down again and up (I needed to push). There’s then a section on the old railway line and then you need to descend again on a ramp, then cycle a short way on the road until you reach a ramp/steps. The ramp isn’t that steep, and it’s a pretty short — so it’s no big deal.

Ramp near Pontebba to rejoin cycleway on the course of the old rail line

The complicated bit out of the way, it’s plain sailing from here to Resiutta, with a couple of dramatic bridges over the Fella river.

At the old Stazione di Chiusaforte there’s a friendly bar, restaurant and inform­ation centre Facebook page. They also had a sign advert­ising repair assistance. 

The Ciclovia Alpe Adria Radweg (FVG1) approaching the old station at Chiusaforte

Up until 2017, the cycleway ended at the old Resiutta station, however, there is now a new section which leads to Moggio Udinese. You can tell where the new section starts, as the lines on the cycleway turn from yellow to white. A little further on, there’s the 950-metre-long Cinque Torri tunnel. It’s illuminated, but there are signs telling you to turn on your lights. There’s then a second tunnel (Ponte di Moggio e Simonetti) which is 650 metres long. 

At the old station of Moggio, the cycleway comes to an end (although at first sight, it seems to continue) and you need to turn right and take the underpass under the main road, and then the cycleway that takes you to the bridge into Moggio. 

Moggio Udinese to Carnia

After the bridge take the first left, and then left again following the signs for Campiolo (Cjampiul).

Note: there are no cycleway signs on this part of the route. Look out for the signs for the Romea Strata hiking route which follows the same course. Also, keep an eye out for stickers put up by the Friends of the Radweg. 

Unofficial sticker put up by the Radweg Angels in Venzone

You cycle past Campiolo and then cross over a bridge and continue on an old military road with a compacted-aggregate surface road. It’s very quiet, but it is open to traffic — so keep an eye out for the occasional vehicle coming the other way.

The road is in reasonable condition, although it is a bit gravelly with some water damage in places. You should be able to find a reasonable line on firm ground, and it should be doable by most riders with bikes – although people with really skinny tyres may have problems. It’s quite a scenic road, but I was quite relieved when the tarmac resumed. 

The road comes out onto the main SS52. The route continues on the other side — more or less in front of you and a little bit to the left. The crossing over the main road is tricky as there’s a bend in the road. Once you’re over the main road, the route continues under the autostrada and over the Tagliamento river and on towards Carnia. 

Carnia to Venzone

Coming out to Carnia you have two choices: one is to turn right onto the Strada Pradon, which despite the name, is a track that skirts around fields before eventually bringing you out onto the SS13. Personally, I think you might just as well take the SS13 — which you will have to join further on anyway. 

The route turns off the SS13 after the village of Portis and onto a quiet minor road. You’ll see a number of the houses that had emergency repairs after the 1976 earth­quake. The houses were never reoccupied as the inhab­itants of Portis Vecchia (Old Portis) had to abandon their homes, and build a new village a short distance away. Today there are plans to create a research and training centre to help prepare emergency workers and local author­ities for earth­quakes. You’ll also see the 14th-century church was almost completely destroyed in the 1976 earth­quake but has been rebuilt. 

The route brings you out onto the main road again, but only for 400 metres or so, before you turn right, onto the Via San Leonardo. There’s no sign, but there is a CAAR sticker on the signpost, together with a more prominent Romea Strata sign. You then continue, following a quiet country lane. This road takes you into the modern outskirts of Venzone. At the junction (Piazza Dogana) turn left and cross over the bridge and, looking for the bell tower of the cathedral, follow the road into the main piazza of Venzone.

Venzone

Venzone was declared a national monument in 1965, as an example of a walled borgo that is unique in the region. Don’t miss its medieval defensive walls, the cathedral (duomo) and the palazzo with its clock and lion of Saint Mark (the symbol of the Venetian Republic).

The people of Venzone were determined to rebuild the town “dove era e come era” (where it was, and as it was). The town, and in particular its cathedral, became a symbol for the rebirth of the region.

The cathedral (duomo) had to be rebuilt, painstak­ingly, piece by piece — in a corner, there’s a photo showing the 8,000 pieces lined up in a field. Fortunately, after the earth­quake in May there had been a photo­graphic survey which helped the recon­struction after the much more destructive earth­quake the following September.

The Duomo di Venzone after the September 1976 earth­quakes. Picture by ‘User: YukioSanjo’ (it.wikipedia) CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

For more about the earth­quake and the recon­struction, and a photo gallery with before and after pictures, see venzoneturismo.it: earth­quake 1976 (it/en/de/fr). There’s also this video by Lorenzo Bianchini that has video footage of Venzone and Gemona del Friuli, before and after the earth­quake and as they are today.

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The Mummies of Venzone

As if Venzone wasn’t already an extraordinary place, the crypt of the Cappella cimiteriale di San Michele next door to the duomo is home to the Mummie di Venzone (Venzone Mummies) — 15 mummified bodies, the oldest dating back to the 14th century. They were mummified by natural processes, but no one knows for certain why the bodies have remained so well preserved. For pictures and more about the theories about their mummi­fic­ation see en.wikipedia.org: Mummies of Venzone.

A Farewell to Arms

Venzone was used as the location for a number of scenes in the 1957 film of Ernest Hemingway’s autobi­o­graphical novel A Farewell to Arms. For more detail, and a gallery of photos see potmiruviadipace.org: A Farewell to Arms Set Photos.