| Municipality of Tolmezzo
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Pop.: 10,609
Area: 65,69 sq. km, 323 m a.s.l.
Neighbourhoods: Cadunea, Caneva, Casanova,
Cazzaso, Fusea, Illegio, Imponzo, Terzo
Town Hall: P. XX Settembre - 33028 Tolmezzo
Phone.: 0433.487911 Fax: 0433.40466
www.comune.tolmezzo.ud.it
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Tolmezzo, the most important
centre in Carnia, was entitled to
privileges in the past that allowed
its development, such as, for
example, the exclusive right to trade
in the whole of Carnia granted by Patriarch
Gregorio of Montelongo, or the municipal
statute of 1356 ratifying its superiority on all
the other centres in Carnia. Thanks to Jacopo
Linussio, who opened here a textile factory
among the greatest in Europe that suddenly
revived the town's economy, in the 18th
century Tolmezzo became an "industrial"
town. The imposing Linussio factory was
made of a central building and two side
wings with porticoes and wide courtyards.
The horizontally-developed building was
devised by architect Domenico Schiavi and
erected between 1738 and 1741. The central
hall, almost unrivalled in Friuli as for width
and beauty, is two floors high and has a
balcony running all round; it is completely
frescoed with frames, architectural
perspectives, allegorical and historical scenes,
all of them developing the theme of virtue
linked to strength and patriotism. The painter
of such frescoes has remained unknown,
although they have been recently attributed to
Domenico Fossati. Annexed to the palace is
the elegant family chapel with graceful
statues of the Annunciation. Domenico
Schiavi also built the Duomo (ca. 1750),
containing inside a lovely series of 18thcentury
paintings: by Francesco Fontebasso
in the high altar (ca.1763); by Gaspare
Diziani (ca. 1735-40) and
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Pietro Antonio
Novelli in the altars on the right (two
paintings, Virgin with Child and Saints, 1780,
and Beheading of S. Ilario, 1790); and by
Filippo Giuseppini (19th cent.), Pietro Antonio
Novelli (end of 18th cent.), and Girolamo
Bassano (17th cent.) in the altars on the left.
A series of paintings by Nicola Grassi due to
Jacopo Linussio's generosity is remarkable:
the Twelve Apostles, the Virgin, the Saviour
and an amusing portrait of Jacopo Linussio
himself (today in the Museum). Also
two stone pieces of the early 1500s are
worthwhile, namely the large holy water spout
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by Carlo da Carona (1516) and the ciborium
attributed to Bernardino da Bissone. In the
church of S. Caterina, other paintings by
Nicola Grassi are found and a pleasant 16th
century altarpiece attributed to Pomponio
Amalteo portrays the Marriage of S. Caterina
and, in the predella, two scenes from the
Saint's martyrdom. The town is graced with a
porticoed street lined with elegant, perfectlypreserved
old buildings, among which a few
must be mentioned: Palazzo Frisacco, now an
exhibition venue, Palazzo Garzolini (whose
late 18th-century frescoes by Francesco
Chiarottini were removed and displayed in
the Museum) and Palazzo Campeis, now
the venue of the
Museo Carnico delle Arti
e Tradizioni Popolari
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(Carnia Museum of
Popular Crafts and Traditions). Elegant
houses with loggias are found at Cadunea
(the Parsonage, 16th cent.) and Imponzo (Casa
Pittoni, 18th cent.). At Illegio, where the
ancient Mulin dal Flec is still operating, the
Pieve of San Floriano is certainly the greatest
monument: situated at 735 metres, in an
enchanting place that can be reached only on
foot after a pleasant half-an-hour walk, it
dominates the Valley of But and Tagliamento.
The Pieve is very old in origin and contains a
wooden polyptych by Domenico da Tolmezzo
(end of 15th cent.) with more recent statues
(since the original were stolen about thirty
years ago), a small stone altar painted by
Carlo da Carona (ca. 1510) and frescoes by
Giulio Urbanis with figures of Saints and
scenes from the life of S. Floriano (ca. 1580).
Also the Pieve of S. Maria oltre But,
already existing in the 13th century, is located
in a panoramic position.
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Those who want to understand what
Carnia was like in the past centuries, the
customs of its inhabitants, their ways of
facing the difficulties of life in an often
hostile environment, their religious spirit,
their everyday life, those must not miss
the Museum of Tolmezzo,
where in so many years
of devout dedication
and research
the illustrious ...go
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