| Municipality of Prato Carnico
|
|
Pop.: 1,064
Area: 81,48 sq. km, 674 m a.s.l.
Neighbourhoods: Avausa, Croce, Luch, Osais,
Pesariis, Pieria, Pradumbli, Prato,
Prico, Sostasio, Truja
Town Hall: Frazione Pieria, 69 - 33020 Prato Carnico
Phone.: 0433.69034 Fax: 0433.69001
www.comune.prato-carnico.ud.it
|
|
|
Leaving Canal di
Gorto shortly
before Comeglians
and crossing Torrent
Degano, visitors find
themselves in Val Pesarina,
joining Carnia with Cadore
through the Forcella di
Lavardet. This is a
picturesque valley, once
crucial for the passage of
goods, inhabited since the
2nd century by the Carni, then
colonized by the Romans.
Seven villages along the road
maintain almost untouched
their original rural structure:
Avausa, Prato Carnico, Pieria,
Pradumli, Osais, Pesariis. At
Prato Carnico is the large
church of
S. Canciano where some
wooden altars are
|
 |
placed,
among which the Flügelaltar
(altar with panel doors) is
remarkable: carved, painted
and gilded by Michele Parth
from Brunico in 1534, the
altar contains the statues of
martyrs Canzio, Canziano
and Canzianilla in the central
niche and the Nativity relief
in the predella; the open panel
doors reveal SS. Peter and
Paul in bas-relief and St. John
the Baptist and St. John the
Evangelist in the cymatium.
To the 16th century dates also
the wooden altar with the
statues of SS. Fabiano,
Sebastian and Rocco inserted
in a Renaissance lay-out: this
is a work by the Udine carver
Simone di Paolo. Mention
must be made of the imposing
leaning bell tower. The nearby
church of Osais dates to 1391
and, on the walls and ribbed
vault of the choir, shows an
interesting cycle of frescoes
dated 1506 and executed by
Tolmezzo painter Pietro Fuluto
portraying holy figures and
scenes from the life of
S. Leonardo, to whom the
church is dedicated. These are
naïf paintings, picturing fairytale
|
|
castles and palaces set
against an unreal background.
The same church houses a
quite large wooden altar
showing six statues of saints
arrayed on two levels: it is the
last work, dated 1528, by
carver Antonio Tironi (who
was a native to Bergamo but
lived in Udine). The structure
framing the altar is
17th-century as the wooden
triptych attributed to Giovanni
Antonio Agostini (end of
16th cent.). The last village at
the end of the valley is
Pesariis, renown since the
17th century for being the seat
of famous clockmakers,
especially the Solari factory
(since 1725) that exported
mainly tower clocks
everywhere in Europe.
Throughout Val Pesarina
buildings of great architectural
value can be found, most of
them restored after the 1976
earthquake, and
|
|
the peculiar
style of its houses, some of
them with open galleries,
makes Pesariis the most
interesting village in Carnia
from the architectural point of
view: see to his regard Sot la
Napa, a Carnic house dating
to the 17th century reflecting
traces of Venetian style, or
Casa Solari, called the clock
house, built in the 16th century
and remodelled two centuries
later: it is the birthplace of
Pope Gregorio XVI (1765).
Also Casa Canciani at Prato
Carnico, Casa Gagliolo at
Sostasio are worthwhile, as
are the several "stavoli" at
Orias, just above Truia, the
stavolo Gonano at Osais, the
stavoli Palman and Gennaro
at Pesariis. The CAI 201
walking path leads from
Pradibosco to Rifugio
De Gasperi, in the Pesarine
dolomites: opposite the
Rifugio, a small botanic
garden has been created with
about 200 species of plants,
most of them protected,
typical of the Dolomites
environments.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Covered with woods and meadows,
rich in waterways and small lakes
reflecting the blue sky, surrounded by
harsh mountains and gently rolling
hills, Carnia, yet untouched by mass
tourism, is the ideal place for those
who prefer relaxing
holidays,
invigorating both the body and
the mind not only for its
natural beauties but also
for what man has been...go
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
