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.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Cordovado is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia.
Subscribe and you get Cordovado's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
- By car
- 47 min from Udine
- Population
- 2,701
- J9°
- F12°
- M15°
- A18°
- M22°
- J27°
- J30°
- A31°
- S25°
- O20°
- N14°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
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.
How to get there
From Treviso (TSF), about 1 h 7 min by car.
Verona (VRN) is about 2 h 20 min away.
By car from the center of Udine 47 min or Trieste 1 h 20 min.
Coming by train into Venezia Santa Lucia? Cordovado is about 1 h 7 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Treviso airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
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.
Living here
Could you live here?
Cordovado is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 2,701, with Sesto al Reghena (6,302 people) 11 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Pordenone, a city of 52,314, is 31 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 2,701, down 1.5% since 2015
- Nearest city Pordenone, 31 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital San Vito al Tagliamento, 8 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €700 to €900 per m² to buy, €2.50 to €3.70 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 97% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Trieste airport (TRS), 53 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Trieste, 1 h 20 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
7% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, India and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. There are 232 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 16% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Pordenone province ranks 24th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in San Vito al Tagliamento, 8 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Udine, 37 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Pordenone, 21 km away. The nearest IB school is H-Farm International School Venice, 47 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Udine International School, 37 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
Friuli Venezia Giulia has its own property tax, ILIA, in place of IMU. The town adds between 0.27% and 0.8% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €13,000. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Friuli-Venezia Giulia spends about €2,350 a month, €520 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €478 a year for water, on the Friuli-Venezia Giulia average. In Pordenone, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.38, a meal in a pizzeria €12.63 and a man's haircut €25.56.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. They show no residents in a high landslide zone.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
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.
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?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Trieste (TRS), about 53 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Udine to Cordovado?
- About 47 min 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.
- Which other towns are like Cordovado?
- Valvasone Arzene, Palmanova and Sesto al Reghena.
- How many people live in Cordovado?
- 2,701 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Cordovado a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Cordovado is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Sesto al Reghena, 11 min). The nearest city, Pordenone, is 31 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in San Vito al Tagliamento, 8 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 97% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
The numbers
- Elevation: 15 m
- Population: 2,701
- 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.
Similar
Towns like Cordovado
What all six share with Cordovado: near sea level
Valvasone Arzene
Province: Pordenone
both on the Friulian plain
Palmanova
Province: Udine
both on the Friulian plain
Sesto al Reghena
Province: Pordenone
both on the Friulian plain
Gradisca d'Isonzo
Province: Gorizia
both on the Friulian plain
Arquà Petrarca
Province: Padova
both under 3,000 people
Toirano
Province: Savona
both under 3,000 people
The 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: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Cordovado comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Chioggia, 84 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.