It was time to say a reluctant “goodbye” to Slovenia (we will definitely return) but were also looking forward to visiting Italy. We shall miss that fantastic view of Triglev and its surrounding peaks, surely the best view of all of the campsites so far. We certainly recommend Camping Kamne to anyone travelling in this area and, given that it is open all year, it is also very useful out of season. The site is very busy in the main season and you will need to book but out of season there shouldn't be a problem. The facilities were quite basic when we were there but this was largely due to the fact that they were extending the shower block, so they will be much better next season.
The Garmin satellite navigation wanted to take us back towards Ljubljana and then through a toll motorway tunnel into Austria and then down into Italy, despite the fact that there is a major crossing directly into Italy just down the road. The Garmin mapping in Slovenia is very poor and unless you want to go somewhere on very major roads, it is worse than useless. Let's face it, if you want to use the major roads, they are very well signposted and if your destination is not on a major route then the Garmin is likely to take you on a totally inappropriate route. Needless to say, we ignored the directions, which resulted in many “recalculating” announcements from the Garmin. Once we crossed the border into Italy, it suddenly knew where the roads were and the directions became sensible again - mapping in Western Europe is good. We took the opportunity of filling up with diesel before we left Slovenia as the price here (1.03 Euros per litre) is cheaper than anywhere else that we have travelled.
We had a very short journey to our next site at Gemona del Friuli, so we took the non-motorway route and stopped off at Venzone. This is a pretty and interesting medieval town with a pre-Roman origin but also an important strategic site in Roman times. According to the tourist brochure, after the Roman times, it was successively invaded by “the Guards, the Marcmanns, the Visigoths, the Huns, the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines, the Longoboards and the Carolingians”. Half of those, I hadn't even heard of but it doesn't sound like it was a good time to live there!
We had lunch in a small café / restaurant in the square near the main church and were able to sample excellent local food. We only wanted something small and I chose Frico Misto on the basis that I had no idea what it was. I was impressed when it arrived – cheese had been melted into a thin sheet and then shaped into a basket, rather like the brandy snap baskets that used to be popular in England. In addition, there was a small cheese and potato(?) omelette (or something like one) and a slice of fried polenta. It was delicious and turned out to be a traditional Friulian dish.
I had noticed that the tourist guide (free and available near the car park) had Italian, English, and German translations but also had a language and a flag that I didn't recognise. I asked the café owner about it (in sign language!) and he indicated that it was Friulano. Although there are some common words with Italian, this is much more than just an Italian dialect and I found out later that it has a Celtic root from one of the many invading hoards that overran the area.
We had seen quite a lot of the town before we found out the details of its recent history. At 09:00 on 6th May 1976 the area of Friuli was hit by an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale. Out of the 600,000 inhabitants of Friuli, 1,000 were killed and 3,000 were injured. The damage to the towns and villages was enormous – 1,500 buildings destroyed and 70,000 damaged. Over 100,000 people where left homeless. While the inhabitants were attempting to rebuild their houses and lives, further tremors shook the area until, on 15th September, a second major earthquake, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale, destroyed what remained of the standing buildings. When we first read in the tourist leaflet that Venzone had been “destroyed” by the earthquakes, we assumed that this was a quirk of the translation and that it had probably been badly damaged. It was only when we saw the photographs that we realised the scale of the devastation – 90% of the buildings were destroyed.
What followed the destruction was quite remarkable. The residents of Venzone lobbied their government to have the old town completely rebuilt as it was before the earthquakes and that is exactly what was done. Walking through the town, it was difficult to believe that it had once been destroyed and it was only inside the church that it became clear how much had been achieved. There were pictures of the areas where the stones of the church were stored in neat rows indicating where they had come from. Of course, much of the ornate stonework and the frescoes were damaged or destroyed but where possible they had used the original materials and replaced missing stonework with new carved stone. Venzone is heralded as an example of how to deal with rebuilding historical sites after such devastation but the cost must have been huge.
One of the delights of travelling when you have plenty of time is discovering unexpected treasures like Venzone.
On then to Gemona del Friuli and Ai Pioppi a small site tucked behind a bar next to the fire station. We had arrived quite early, so we took a walk around the town and again came across references to the damage caused by the 1976 earthquakes. Gemona was a pleasant enough place but did not have the historical heritage of Venzone.
Photos: Venzone church after May 1976 earthquake; Venzone church after September 1976 earthquake; Venzone church today; Sculpture to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the earthquakes – carved from a single tree trunk;
The Garmin satellite navigation wanted to take us back towards Ljubljana and then through a toll motorway tunnel into Austria and then down into Italy, despite the fact that there is a major crossing directly into Italy just down the road. The Garmin mapping in Slovenia is very poor and unless you want to go somewhere on very major roads, it is worse than useless. Let's face it, if you want to use the major roads, they are very well signposted and if your destination is not on a major route then the Garmin is likely to take you on a totally inappropriate route. Needless to say, we ignored the directions, which resulted in many “recalculating” announcements from the Garmin. Once we crossed the border into Italy, it suddenly knew where the roads were and the directions became sensible again - mapping in Western Europe is good. We took the opportunity of filling up with diesel before we left Slovenia as the price here (1.03 Euros per litre) is cheaper than anywhere else that we have travelled.
We had a very short journey to our next site at Gemona del Friuli, so we took the non-motorway route and stopped off at Venzone. This is a pretty and interesting medieval town with a pre-Roman origin but also an important strategic site in Roman times. According to the tourist brochure, after the Roman times, it was successively invaded by “the Guards, the Marcmanns, the Visigoths, the Huns, the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines, the Longoboards and the Carolingians”. Half of those, I hadn't even heard of but it doesn't sound like it was a good time to live there!
We had lunch in a small café / restaurant in the square near the main church and were able to sample excellent local food. We only wanted something small and I chose Frico Misto on the basis that I had no idea what it was. I was impressed when it arrived – cheese had been melted into a thin sheet and then shaped into a basket, rather like the brandy snap baskets that used to be popular in England. In addition, there was a small cheese and potato(?) omelette (or something like one) and a slice of fried polenta. It was delicious and turned out to be a traditional Friulian dish.
I had noticed that the tourist guide (free and available near the car park) had Italian, English, and German translations but also had a language and a flag that I didn't recognise. I asked the café owner about it (in sign language!) and he indicated that it was Friulano. Although there are some common words with Italian, this is much more than just an Italian dialect and I found out later that it has a Celtic root from one of the many invading hoards that overran the area.
We had seen quite a lot of the town before we found out the details of its recent history. At 09:00 on 6th May 1976 the area of Friuli was hit by an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale. Out of the 600,000 inhabitants of Friuli, 1,000 were killed and 3,000 were injured. The damage to the towns and villages was enormous – 1,500 buildings destroyed and 70,000 damaged. Over 100,000 people where left homeless. While the inhabitants were attempting to rebuild their houses and lives, further tremors shook the area until, on 15th September, a second major earthquake, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale, destroyed what remained of the standing buildings. When we first read in the tourist leaflet that Venzone had been “destroyed” by the earthquakes, we assumed that this was a quirk of the translation and that it had probably been badly damaged. It was only when we saw the photographs that we realised the scale of the devastation – 90% of the buildings were destroyed.
What followed the destruction was quite remarkable. The residents of Venzone lobbied their government to have the old town completely rebuilt as it was before the earthquakes and that is exactly what was done. Walking through the town, it was difficult to believe that it had once been destroyed and it was only inside the church that it became clear how much had been achieved. There were pictures of the areas where the stones of the church were stored in neat rows indicating where they had come from. Of course, much of the ornate stonework and the frescoes were damaged or destroyed but where possible they had used the original materials and replaced missing stonework with new carved stone. Venzone is heralded as an example of how to deal with rebuilding historical sites after such devastation but the cost must have been huge.
One of the delights of travelling when you have plenty of time is discovering unexpected treasures like Venzone.
On then to Gemona del Friuli and Ai Pioppi a small site tucked behind a bar next to the fire station. We had arrived quite early, so we took a walk around the town and again came across references to the damage caused by the 1976 earthquakes. Gemona was a pleasant enough place but did not have the historical heritage of Venzone.
Photos: Venzone church after May 1976 earthquake; Venzone church after September 1976 earthquake; Venzone church today; Sculpture to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the earthquakes – carved from a single tree trunk;
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