Located in northeast Italy along the border of Austria and Slovenia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia is composed of four provinces: Trieste, Gorizia, Udine, and Pordenone. The two smaller provinces, Trieste and Gorizia, make up the region Venezia Giulia, while Friuli takes up the vast majority of land area and comprises the provinces of Udine and Pordenone. The two regions, Friuli and Venezia Giulia, were joined into one autonomous region in 1964, with Trieste as the region’s capital.
The province of Trieste is exclusively coastal, stretching from the Castello di Duino southeastward to the Istrian peninsula, where the town of Muggia is the final stop before crossing into Slovenia. This skinny finger of Italian land extends entirely into foreign territory, isolated from the rest of Friuli by the rocky Carso plateau. Read More
The province of Gorizia extends from the city of Gorizia on the Slovenian border down to the coastal town of Grado. Much of this province is wine country, most notably the Collio zone near the town of Cormòns. Read More
The province of Udine is the region’s largest, stretching from the Carnian and Giulian Alps in the north to the marshy coastlands in the south. The center of the province is home to vineyards, large-scale agriculture, and Friuli’s renowned prosciutto di San Daniele. Read More
The province of Pordenone is bordered to the west and south by Italy’s Veneto region and extends eastward to the Tagliamento River. The Venetian influence is perceptible throughout Friuli—in its architecture, its language, and its cuisine—but nowhere is this more evident than in the towns of this province. Read More
