Palmanova: the loggias, bastions and tunnels of one of the “Borghi più belli d’Italia” (Most Beautiful Villages in Italy)

Slow Tour

16 November 2018

Slow Tour

Palmanova: the loggias, bastions and tunnels of one of the “Borghi più belli d’Italia” (Most Beautiful Villages in Italy)

After becoming a transnational UNESCO World Heritage Site “Venetian defence works between the 16th and 17th century”, the nine-pointed star shape fortress town of Palmanova in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, is now one of the Borghi più Belli d’Italia!

The Loggia di Baluardo Donato, with its sortie tunnel, built in the early 17th century for the guards who patrolled it, has recently re-opened.

Sortie tunnel with the loggia in the background

Visitors will now be able to visit it along with the counter-mine tunnels that opened not long ago. From the loggia the level of the moat along the tunnel and then decide whether to continue their walk along the bastions or head towards the other underground passages.

View at the exit of the sortie tunnel

Walking along them, we can see calcified elements formed over the centuries, some with very spectacular shapes and colours, as well as some very interesting pisolites.

Calcifications

Pisolites

Furthermore, towards the end of the route we will see a mysterious hidden tunnel on the right and a ceiling of a pink flamingo colour due to the particular reactions of bricks.

Counter-mine tunnels: detail of the pink wall

You can try and explore our region through the places described by writers: it will be like reading their works, but the difference is that you will not only read them with your eyes but also with all your senses and your imagination, giving them a shape, a colour, a scent and perhaps even a pleasant sound.