Moggio Udinese

Whilst human activity had been recorded as far back as Roman times (2nd century BC), it was the 11th century AD that was a crucial juncture for Moggio, when the count Cacellino donated his assets to the patriarch of Aquileia to build a Benedictine monastery. Religious and temporal power coincided and this favoured the central importance of the Abbey in the religious and political life of medieval Friuli.

With the transition to the Republic of Venice in 1420, this power vanished. Then, in the eighteenth century, a factory owned by the famous entrepreneur from Carnia, Jacopo Linussio, initiated the pre-industrialization that preceded and accompanied the town’s now centuries-old paper-making tradition.

In 1815, with the Congress of Vienna, there was the transition to the Habsburg Empire and, in 1866, the annexation to the Kingdom of Italy. The 20th century of the Moggio community was marked by both World Wars and later the terrible earthquake of May 1976.

The majestic Ponte della Vittoria (Victory Bridge), rebuilt after being blown up in 1917 to slow down the Austro-Hungarian invasion following the defeat of Caporetto, has always been the main access route to the town.

In the centre of the town, the Town Hall and the Palazzina Liberty, currently home to the Tourist Information Point and the Youth Information Centre, are worth a visit.

The historic abbey complex includes the Abbey of San Gallo Abate, the monastery of the Poor Clares with the adjoining cloister, a medieval tower, now used to host art exhibitions, the Abbey Library and the Antiquarium. Just outside the walls is the stone Berlina (or pillory) from 1653, one of the last four remaining in the region, and the Colle di Santo Spirito.

Moggio Udinese is made up of the towns of Moggio Basso and Moggio Alto and the outlying villages of Bevorchians, Campiolo, Chiaranda, Dordolla, Grauzaria, Moggessa di Qua and Moggessa di Là, Monticello, Morolz, Ovedasso, Pradis, Saps, and Stavoli, the most isolated village in Italy reachable only on foot, Dordolla a beloved place recently repopulated by scholars, artists and intellectuals, Moggessa di qua and Moggessa di là the latter a place of work of Tito Maniacco, who brought back his experience as an elementary school teacher in one of the cornerstones of Friulian literature "Mestri di mont."

The Moggese territory boasts an important forest heritage and has numerous paths and routes for hiking and mountain walks. The surrounding peaks — including Grauzaria, Sernio, Zuc dal Bor, Pisimoni — also provide opportunities for mountaineering.

The area includes interesting nature sites, beautiful villages and traces of an ancient rural past and war artefacts and is crossed by various waterways such as the river Fella, the smaller courses Aupa and the Alba, within the Alba Nature Reserve, and Glagnò.