Friuli-Venezia Giulia · Pordenone
Spilimbergo
A 132-meter Friulian town on the Tagliamento, home since 1922 to the Scuola Mosaicisti.
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 39 min from Udine
- Population
- 11,833
Known for
MOSAIC SCHOOL
The Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli has trained mosaicists since 1922; alumni made the Library of Congress and Ground Zero mosaics.
PALAZZO DIPINTO
Bellunello frescoed the entire façade around 1480; the palace later hosted Charles V, Bona Sforza, and Henry III of France.
TAGLIAMENTO
The river runs three kilometers wide here in braided channels, the last unaltered Alpine river bed of its kind in Europe.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J8°
- F11°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J27°
- J30°
- A30°
- S25°
- O19°
- N14°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Spilimbergo takes its name from the castrum de Spengenberg, built by Carinthian counts who came south as vassals of the Patriarch of Aquileia. Their fortress anchors one end of a centro storico that reads as a sequence of additions: the Romanesque-Gothic cathedral raised through the fourteenth century, the painted palace that later hosted Charles V, Bona Sforza, and Henry III of France, and Corso Roma running between frescoed palazzi to the old market stone still used to measure trade. The Scuola Mosaicisti, founded in 1922, is the newest of these layers but the one that has carried the town's name furthest, its alumni's work turning up in the Library of Congress, the Holy Sepulchre, the Foro Italico, and the World Trade Center transit hub.
The Folkest folk-music festival runs every July, and the town carries Borghi più belli and Borgo dei Borghi finalist recognition. Outside it, the Tagliamento broadens into the braided, three-kilometer bed that gives the town its setting on the right bank. A place, in sum, where a medieval frontier post and a twentieth-century craft school have ended up equally responsible for putting Spilimbergo on a map.
The Sunday letter
Spilimbergo 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 Spilimbergo comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
Read on
Spilimbergo in our articles
The best hill towns that eat well in Friuli-Venezia Giulia6 towns, Spilimbergo among them.
The best hill towns within 45 minutes of Udine6 towns, Spilimbergo among them.
The prettiest villages in the province of Pordenone6 towns, Spilimbergo among them.
The 9 best towns with a serious restaurant in Friuli-Venezia Giulia9 towns, Spilimbergo among them.
How to get there
From Venice (TSF), about 1h 22m by car.
Verona (VRN) is about 2h 42m away.
By car from the centre of Udine 39 minutes or Trieste 1h 34m.
Coming by train into Venezia Santa Lucia? Spilimbergo is about 1h 29m away by road.
What to see
Castello di Spilimbergo
Eleventh-century fortress of the Spengenberg counts, burned in the 1511 popular revolt and partially rebuilt; the palace with the painted façade survived.
Palazzo Dipinto
The frescoes cover prancing horses, ladies, pages, and figures of the Theological and Cardinal virtues across the fifteenth-century façade.
Duomo di Santa Maria Maggiore
Romanesque-Gothic cathedral begun in 1284 by count Walterpertoldo II, with apse frescoes executed between 1350 and 1359.
Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli
Over 800 student and master works are displayed across the school's halls, considered the most important collection of its kind in the world.
Tagliamento riverbed
The braided channels spread out near the town in a bed that has kept its natural, unmodified form.
Corso Roma
Main axis of the centro storico, lined with frescoed Renaissance palazzi and the Macia, the medieval measuring stone used for market trade.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Spilimbergo 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.
We recommend
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
La TorreRistorante
La Torre holds two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100) and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Osteria da AfroRistorante
Osteria da Afro carries a spot in the Michelin Guide.
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.
Istrago in Festafood festival
Macia historical re-enactmenthistorical re-enactment
usually held in August. PromoTurismoFVG - Tutti gli eventi (official)
Living here
- Population 11,833
- Commuter belti
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Venice, 1 h 22 min drive
- Regional capital Trieste, 1 h 34 min drive
Common questions
- What is Spilimbergo known for?
- Spilimbergo is a 132-meter Friulian town on the Tagliamento, home since 1922 to the Scuola Mosaicisti.
- Where is Spilimbergo?
- Spilimbergo is a comune in the province of Pordenone, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, at 132 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Spilimbergo?
- Venice (TSF), about 1h 22m by car.
- How long is the drive from Udine to Spilimbergo?
- About 39 minutes by car.
- When is the best time to visit Spilimbergo?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Spilimbergo?
- Yes. Istrago in Festa and Macia historical re-enactment.
- Which other towns are like Spilimbergo?
- Pieve di Soligo, Marostica and Vittorio Veneto.
- How many people live in Spilimbergo?
- 11,833 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 132 m
- Population: 11,833
- Surface area: 71.88 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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