Canalaz/Kanalac - Collection of the Monumental Chestnut Tree

Canalaz can be reached via provincial road 45 that leads from Cividale to Grimacco, continuing to Liessa, where a small museum of ancient objects can be admired. After crossing the bridge over the Cosizza stream, we proceed on foot towards the San Martino mountain pass, Brida Inferior, Brida Superior, and Plataz. Here we encounter the famous centuries-old chestnut tree, the largest in Friuli Venezia Giulia: a tree over four centuries old, with a trunk possibly formed by the merging of two initially separate elements. The trunk measures 9.58 meters in circumference and rises 20 meters tall, with a thick and robust crown.
The site is called Mlaja, which in the local dialect means "new sprout". It is here that Paolo Tomasetig and his wife Alba Žefcjova, the last heir of Žef (Giuseppe) Žefcjova, have preserved the memory and main structures of the village. This family, originally from the Isonzo Valley, founded the village of Canalaz in the early decades of the 1600s: they were landowners, emigrants working in Belgian mines, and today they continue to work to preserve their culture and identity.

ph. Biagio Tomasetig, collection Žefcjova