Gemona del Friuli

Gemona del Friuli Glemone (Friulian) Humin (Slovene)
Comune
Città di Gemona del Friuli
Cathedral of Gemona
Coat of arms
Location of Gemona del Friuli
Gemona del Friuli Location of Gemona del Friuli in Italy Gemona del Friuli Gemona del Friuli (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
Coordinates: 46°17′N 13°8′E
Country	Italy
Region	Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Province	Udine (UD)
Frazioni	Piovega, Campagnola, Campolessi, Maniaglia, Ospedaletto, Godo, Centro Storico, Stalis, Taviele, Taboga
Government
• Mayor	Roberto Revelant
Area
• Total	56.2 km2 (21.7 sq mi)
Elevation	272 m (892 ft)
Population  (30 November 2008)
• Total	11,175
• Density	200/km2 (520/sq mi)
Demonym	Gemonesi
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	33013
Dialing code	0432
ISTAT code	030043
Patron saint	Santa Maria Assunta
Saint day	December 8
Website	Official website

Gemona del Friuli (Friulian: Glemone; Slovene: Humin; German: Klemaun; Latin: Glemona) is a comune (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine, in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 90 kilometres (56 mi) northwest of Trieste and about 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of Udine.

The municipality of Gemona del Friuli contains the frazioni (boroughs) Campagnola, Campolessi, Maniaglia, Ospedaletto, Godo, Centro Storico, Stalis, Taviele and Taboga.

Gemona del Friuli borders the following municipalities: Artegna, Bordano, Buja, Lusevera, Montenars, Osoppo, Trasaghis and Venzone.

History

Ognissanti church, Ospedaletto, one of Gemona subdivisions

Evidence of human occupation in Gemona goes back to prehistoric times. The town occupies a key point on the road from Italy to Austria, and there are traces of Celtic occupation around the year 500 BCE.

The area was subject to various invasions in the period 166–750, including Huns, Marcomanni, Ostrogoths, Visigoths and Lombards, who had it as a stronghold from about 558. Lombard historian Paul the Deacon mentions it in 611 as an "impregnable castle". From the fall of the Lombard Kingdom of Italy until 952 Gemona was under Carolingian rulers. During this period the castle was built, the modern town growing around it.

From 776, Gemona became an important part of the Patriarchate of Aquileia. In the 12th century Gemona was an autonomous commune: in 1184 the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa granted a charter for the town's market. In the 13th and 14th centuries it returned to the Patriarchate, until, in 1420, that state was absorbed by the Republic of Venice.

In 1797 French troops under Napoleon defeated the Venetian Republic: in 1798, after the Treaty of Campo Formio, Gemona came under Austrian rule. Following a plebiscite in 1866, Gemona became part of the newly unified Kingdom of Italy.

The present town is medieval in origin but was badly damaged in the 1976 Friuli earthquake. Restoration began the same year, and now the town has been largely restored. The castle is currently under reconstruction.

Main sights

Gemona's main attraction is the medieval cathedral (Duomo), dating to the 14th century, with its massive campanile (freestanding bell tower) of the same period. The collections of its Museo Civico include a Madonna and Child by Cima da Conegliano.

• 
  Hulk of the Chiesa della Beata Vergine delle Grazie, as a result of the 1976 earthquake
• 
  Christ Before Caiaphas, fresco in Ognissanti church, Ospedaletto.

Transport

• Gemona del Friuli railway station

Twin towns

Gemona del Friuli is twinned with:

• Velden am Wörther See, Austria
• Laakirchen, Austria
• Foligno, Italy, since 2001

Notable people

• Alessandro Cicutti (born 1987), footballer

External links

Media related to Gemona del Friuli at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website