Stages: Prepotto-Pulfero-savogna

The route touches the districts of Savogna, Pulfero and Prepotto.La story of Prepotto is inextricably linked to that of Castelmonte. The complex, which is the current sanctuary was originally a Roman station, then transformed into a fortified town. Mentioned for the first time in a document of 1175, the shrine of Our Lady of Mount belonged first to the provost of St. Stephen in Cividale, then, since 1253, the chapter of St. Maria.Pulfero, located along the river Natisone , it is located near the border with Slovenia and enjoys a landscape of great interest and beauty. The road leading to the border crossing became Pulfero, in prehistoric times, an important route that allowed the direct connection between the Friuli region and the carnico-Carinthian region. In Roman times this link was structured in Via Appia, built by Appius Claudius Pulcher consul in 143 BC, which, starting from Aquileia, touched Cormòns, San Pietro, Pulfero, Bovec, Tarvisio and ended at Virunum (near Klagenfurt). Through the pass passed through many military expeditions (from the direct Roman legions to Noricum and Pannonia, up to Napoleon), and entered almost all the invaders of Friuli (the Lombards until the Caporetto) .Most of the territory of the municipality of Savogna formed by the southern slopes of Mount Matajur. Its summit, with the height of 1643 m., Is the highest peak of the Alps Eastern Julian, from it you can admire the beautiful scenery ranging from the Julian Alps to the Dolomites, the Carso, to the lagoon and the sea. For this reason, the area offers many hiking opportunities in beautiful natural settings. Interesting, from an urban point of view, are the typical stone houses with wooden balconies and rustic decorative elements that are combined in a commendable way to beautiful nature that surrounds it. In some houses of the villages of Dus Tercimonte and you can appreciate some devotional paintings largely due to Jacun Pitor (Giacomo Meneghini Nimis), who lived from 1851 to 1935, only painter really naive art in Friulian history. In addition to the valuable works of art in the picturesque small churches and votive Brizza Pechinie, the statue in painted concrete it must also remember, depicting the Sacred Heart of Jesus, located in the village of Montemaggiore and built in 1907.

 Prepotto:

The history of Prepotto is inextricably linked to that of Castelmonte. The complex, which is the current sanctuary was originally a Roman station, then transformed into a fortified town. Mentioned for the first time in a document of 1175, the shrine of Our Lady of Mount belonged first to the provost of St. Stephen in Cividale, then, since 1253, the Chapter of St. Mary. In the thirteenth century the Church of Santa Maria in Monte was considered one of the most important Patriarchate of Aquileia. Ravaged by a devastating fire in 1469 and destroyed by the earthquake of 1511, the sanctuary was enlarged and embellished in the seventeenth century. From a planning point of view, except for the efforts made since the last World War, the structure did not undergo further major changes. The Castelmonte Sanctuary houses some valuable works of art among which is particularly worthy of note is the fifteenth-century Madonna and Child, painted stone statue of Salzburg School; the statue is inserted Baroque altar executed in 1684 by Alessandro Tremignon. In the surrounding villages remain, however, many examples of rustic architecture.

 Pulfero:

Anthony Biacis The small church, surrounded by greenery, is one of the most beautiful of Friuli. Externally, the façade has a belfry and a porch which also has the historical "Stone" of the country of Biacis, worked with special engravings. And 'the only surviving example of the stones that were used as a table around which sat the chief and councilors of "vicinia", the ancient assembly of heads of families in Medioevo.S.Giovanni Antro The chapel of San Giovanni d'Antro, opera quite unusual in architecture fortified Friuli, rather than a strictly castle turns out to be a fortified church. Built in its present form in the late fifteenth century, halfway up on a high exposed rock wall on the river Natisone, it insists on the entry of a cave, used since ancient times as a shelter for the local people. The cave was consecrated for worship at least the eighth century. In the cave, which can be reached after climbing more than a hundred steps, two brick cryptoporticos were created; It is placed inside an eighteenth-century wooden altar of the Slovenian school containing sixteenth century statues attributed to the workshop of Giovanni Martini.

 Savogna:

Interesting, from an urban point of view, are the typical stone houses with wooden balconies and rustic decorative elements that are combined in a commendable way to beautiful nature that surrounds it. In some houses of the villages of Dus Tercimonte and you can appreciate some devotional paintings largely due to Jacun Pitor (Giacomo Meneghini Nimis), who lived from 1851 to 1935, only painter really naive art in Friulian history. In addition to the valuable works of art in the picturesque small churches and votive Brizza Pechinie, the statue in painted concrete it must also remember, depicting the Sacred Heart of Jesus, located in the village of Montemaggiore and built in 1907.