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Published: September 17th 2007
Roman ruins in Aquileia
Laki, Hannah, Fran, Leah, CarloWe started the day in style with breakfast outside on the patio in the fresh air, listening to the birds sing. First location for the day was Cividale, the closest town to Carlo’s house in Torreano. Cividale is what I’d describe as a typical Italian town, perhaps mainly for the architecture but also the narrow walkways between the tall very old buildings, with their shutters and flower boxes.
They had recently done some restoration work on the town and found on one building that under the surface was ancient paintings on the walls, probably dating back 100s of years.
After looking through the town we walked down the ‘Devil’s Bridge’, a grand old stone bridge over the beautiful Natisone River.
The river was stunning, with steep cliffs down to the very clear blue water below. We could even see the large fish swimming around in the fresh river. We found a local ‘café’ on a side street to try some of the local cuisine. We had to have our photo with the Julius Caesar statue - apparently Friuli used to be called the ‘Forum Iulii’ which means Forum of Julius - very fascinating.
We jumped back
Mosaic Floors
Not quite roman sandals... but the mosaics are the real deal! into the car and headed south towards the coast. On the way we drove through Palmanova, another very old town surrounded by its high stone city walls, and the whole town was shaped in an Octagon!
We made our way to Aquileia, founded by the Romans in 180BC, which had a busy port when it was once located at the edge of the lagoons on the Natisone River by the head of the Adriatic Sea. However, the river had changed quite since Roman times, and Aquileia is now approximately 10km from the sea!
The town has many ruins from the Romains era, in fact Aquileia is believed to be the largest Roman city yet to be excavated. We had a good look through some old foundations, still with its ancient mosaic floor tiling that had been unearthed during some construction excavations.
It was amazing to think that the very piece of mosaic floor that we are standing on was once walked upon by Romans in their little sandals and togas, hundreds of years earlier.
During wars at Aquileia, the Romans inhabitants, together with those from smaller towns in the neighbourhood, fled to the lagoons and so laid
Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia
and its 4th Centaury intricate mosaic floor the foundations to the stunning city of Venice!
Next stop in the town was the large ‘Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia’, the local Cathedral, erected in 1031 on the site of an earlier church, and then rebuilt in 1379.
The church had a grand entrance with large white pillars each side, directing your vision to the alter at the very front of the church.
The floor was completely covered in tiny mosaic pieces from the 4th Centaury, depicting a range of biblical stories, which Carlo believes to be one of the largest in Europe. Over time the ground has settled and therefore the floor is very uneven with significant hollows that you can see as you walk across the suspended glass floor above, yet the mosaics are reasonably intact.
After having a good look in the church, we wandered down to where Aquileia’s port used to be to see the old canals and remains of the Port’s building foundations. Then to the site of what was once probably a large important Roman building. All that remains is a number of tall pillars commanding the entrance to what is now a large paved area and some low foundations. Nevertheless, Leah
and I had lots of fun making funny shadow photos!
We found the gelato store for another yummy ice-cream, and all had a good laugh when Carlo offered his ice-cream to Laki, only to get shot down with a ‘WTF!? - you don’t offer another guy your ice-cream!’ hehe
We jumped back in the car and continued to travel towards the coast to Grado, located on a peninsula over the Adriatic Sea and locally famous for its seafood. In roman times the city, known as Ad Aquae Gradatae, was the first port for ships entering the Natisone Rive heading to Aquileia.
The first thing we saw was a marina full of sailing yachts surrounded by old Italian buildings. On a warm, sunny day I think I could have chosen to live here.
We got some supplies for our BBQ tomorrow and wandered into the middle of the town, which once again captivated me in much the same way Venice did. We walked past a variety of romantic Italian restaurants tucked away down narrow cobblestone alleyways searching for where we might be eating dinner later.
We found our way to the main square, where Leah and
Grado Marina
Leah, Hannah, Fran I had a look in the large Cathedral ‘Basilica di Saint Eufemia.’ We walked down to the coast line of the Adriatic Sea, and it had the unmistakable smell of salty-sea air that Leah and I miss so much from home - the smell of summer.
The coastline had a wide marble pathway along its rock-protected shoreline which we walked along to the other end of town. We found the site of another ancient Church, which only had its foundations and part of the mosaic flooring left. Its hard to imagine how old some of these things actually are.
Carlo took the five of us to the most romantic little restaurant in the heart of Grado, located in an intimate stone courtyard, with long white tables clothes, linen covered chairs and striking red roses in the centre of the tables all under dim candle lights. With free champagne on arrival, all we had left to do was sample the tasty local seafood - we are in Grado after all!
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