Castello di Torre di Pordenone

Built at the end of the 13th century by the Counts of Prata, probably upon the ruins of a Roman settlement, it was long contended for by the Counts of Gorizia, the Dukes of Austria and the Patriarchs of Aquileia. During the 14th century it was mostly held  by the Counts of Prata and Porcia; in 1344 it became a holding of Patriarch Bertram de Saint Genies and later of the Counts of Ragogna; in 1391, Patriarch Jan V of Moravia definitively granted it to the Ragognas. The Counts of Torre-Ragogna, who were members of the Friulian Parliament, played a prominent role in many local wars. On 12 April 1402, Giovanni di Ragogna died with his wife and six children while trying to defend the castle from the Austrian troops. The castle was torched and almost completely destroyed; only the tower survived (in the photograph, see a detail of the ground-floor fresco). In 1567 Girolamo di Porcia described the castle as being a “tower castle, with a single tower where the family resides, and a village outside its walls; the estate once belonged to the reverend Patriarchs of Aquileia.”