Castello di Caneva

Once a Patriarchal regency, the castle was probably erected near a Roman watch-tower and, given its strategically-important position, for centuries was granted as a feudal holding to various members of the Friulian aristocracy: Giovanni di Zuccola Spilimbergo in 1297, Federico di Savorgnano in 1337 and Giovanni di Toppo in 1356.

Documentation in 1034 shows the castle to belong to the Church of Aquileia; in the ongoing struggle for possession it was the theatre of numerous fights between the Patriarchs and the Camino family. In 1385 the castle was occupied by the Carraresi troops, Lords of Padua. After returning into the possession of the Church of Aquileia, Caneva was taken by the Venetian troops in the year 1420. The ruins of the ancient castle, situated on top of a rocky slope, today consist of the base of several massive defence walls and towers. Inside the castle walls there is the chapel of Santa Lucia constructed at the end of the 16th century and the bell tower erected upon an ancient tower.