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00 Cordovado
Stemma di Cordovado

Friuli-Venezia Giulia · Pordenone

Cordovado

A 15-meter Friulian village in the Pordenone plain, fortified by the bishops of Concordia as their summer seat and described in Ippolito Nievo's Confessions.

Best time
Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
By car
47 min from Udine
Population
2,733

Known for

  • BISHOPS OF CONCORDIA

    Fortified by the bishops in the 11th-12th century as their plain castle and summer residence, seat of civil and ecclesiastical power.

  • NIEVO AND PASOLINI

    Setting for parts of Ippolito Nievo's Confessions of an Italian; Pier Paolo Pasolini later wrote about the borgo and its fields.

  • TWENTY-THREE FOUNTAINS

    Public spring-fed fountains run across the territory, a legacy of the karst water table just beneath the plain.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct

  • J9°
  • F12°
  • M15°
  • A18°
  • M22°
  • J27°
  • J30°
  • A31°
  • S25°
  • O20°
  • N14°
  • D10°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: Andrea, 30 November

Why come

Cordovado lies in the alluvial plain southeast of Pordenone, twenty kilometers from the sea. The name comes from Curtis de Vado, the agricultural court built near a ford on a now-vanished branch of the Tagliamento. The bishops of Concordia, who also held the title of marquises of Cordovado, fortified the court in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and made it their plain castle and summer residence, the seat of civil, military, and ecclesiastical power.

The medieval walls and two gate towers still ring the borgo. The castle inside was last fully described in 1856, before being partly demolished. The Santuario della Madonna delle Grazie, built in 1603 on the site of a 1592 Marian apparition, has an octagonal plan and a carved gilded ceiling by Cataldo Ferrara from 1656.

Ippolito Nievo set parts of Confessions of an Italian here in the 1850s; Pier Paolo Pasolini later wrote about the village. Twenty-three public fountains run on spring water across the territory.

The Sunday letter

Cordovado is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Cordovado comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Cordovado in our articles

How to get there

From Venice (TSF), about 1 hour by car.

Verona (VRN) is about 2h 20m away.

By car from the centre of Udine 47 minutes or Trieste 1h 20m.

Coming by train into Venezia Santa Lucia? Cordovado is about 1 hour away by road.

Every town within reach of Venice airport.

Cordovado, photo 1
Cordovado, photo 2

What to see

  • Castello di Cordovado

    Medieval castle of the bishops of Concordia inside the walled borgo, with two surviving gate towers and a residential courtyard.

  • Santuario della Madonna delle Grazie

    Baroque sanctuary built in 1603 with an octagonal plan and a carved gilded ceiling by Cataldo Ferrara from 1656-1658.

  • Borgo medievale

    Walled medieval nucleus with two gate towers, civic houses, and the bishops' residential complex inside the original perimeter.

  • Duomo di Sant'Andrea Apostolo

    Ancient parish church dating back to the fifteenth century, with later additions and Baroque interventions.

  • Parco letterario Ippolito Nievo

    Literary park tracing the locations Nievo used in Confessions of an Italian, written partly during his stays in Cordovado.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Cordovado fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

Living here

  • Population 2,733
  • Commuter belti
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Nearest airport Venice, 1 h 7 min drive
  • Regional capital Trieste, 1 h 20 min drive

Common questions

What is Cordovado known for?
Cordovado is a 15-meter Friulian village in the Pordenone plain, fortified by the bishops of Concordia as their summer seat and described in Ippolito Nievo's Confessions.
Where is Cordovado?
Cordovado is a comune in the province of Pordenone, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, at 15 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Cordovado?
Venice (TSF), about 1 hour by car.
How long is the drive from Udine to Cordovado?
About 47 minutes by car.
When is the best time to visit Cordovado?
Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Cordovado?
Yes. Cordovado Medievale.
Which other towns are like Cordovado?
Valvasone Arzene, Palmanova and Sesto al Reghena.
How many people live in Cordovado?
2,733 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 15 m
  • Population: 2,733
  • Surface area: 12.02 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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