The itinerary starts in Casarsa – the artist’s mother’s town, where Pier Paolo Pasolini spent several years of his childhood and many summer holidays – and ends once more in Casarsa, in the cemetery where the writer was laid to rest next to his family. In between, a life devoted to writing and thinking, where Friuli is present through memories, in connection with his mother and in the language. His first collection of poems, published in 1942 and dedicated to Casarsa, “the best childhood” and his first theatrical drama I Turcs tal Friûl (The Turks in Friuli) written in May 1944 but not published until 1976 were in the Friulian dialect. Not even Pasolini the filmmaker forgot his homeland: it was in Grado lagoon where his film ‘Medea’ starring Maria Callas, was set.
The proposed route, which moves around Casarsa, includes some of the more symbolic places of Pasolini and his development.
In
Casarsa della Delizia, you can visit his mother’s house, now home to the
Pier Paolo Pasolini Study Center. Pasolini also loved painting: the centre has some of his Indian ink paintings on display.
The second stop is the
Santa Croce church, this is where Pasolini led friends in cleaning and restoring frescoes by Pomponio Amalteo. There is also a plaque commemorating the Turkish raid in 1499 which was the inspiration for his theatrical drama I Turcs tal Friul.
Nearby, the small village of
Versuta with the beautiful Sant’Antonio Church is testament to Pasolini’s experience during WWII. Here, the Academiuta di Lenga furlana (Friulian Dialect Academy) was born, almost a literary salon attended by Pasolini and various friends, with the aim of giving the Friulian dialect value by awarding it literary dignity.
The Versuta church, the nearby Versa canal and the surrounding countryside were remembered and celebrated by Pier Paolo Pasolini in his work ‘Poems in Casarsa’.
However, the small village of
San Giovanni di Casarsa, is linked to the poet’s political endeavours, where he put up self-inspired wall posters on current events, polemical writings and essays focusing on his political struggle. in Italian and Friulian language. .
Finally, visit the poet’s tomb in the
Casarsa cemetery (by the entrance on the left), and don’t be surprised if you meet other visitors; Italians or foreigners, who come to pay homage to the poet by reading his poems.
