Castello di Attimis

Mentioned for the first time in 1066 (“castrum jacet (…) ad locum qui dicitur Attems”), the upper castle first belonged to the Marquis of Moosburg, then to the Berthold, bishop of Salzburg, who later donated it to his niece Mathilde and to Voldarico, Marquis of Tuscany. In 1170 the castle was passed to the Patriarch of Aquileia, Ulrich von Treven (Volderico di Treffen), along with nearby Partistagno. He in turn assigned its feudal holding to his loyal vassals Arpone and Enrico, founders of the two branches of the Attems lineage. Between 1250 and 1260 the lower castle was erected, and in 1275 Patriarch Raimund von Thurn (Raimondo della Torre) granted control of the castle to Artinido d’Attems, who demolished it in 1294. In 1377 the Attems again became the owners of both castles, which had evidently been reconstructed. After 1485 the two fortresses were abandoned and deteriorated, perhaps also due to incursions by the Uscocchi, Slavic refugees who had been plundering Venetian territories. Its definitive destruction came about in 1511, following an earthquake.

The ruins of the upper castle (in the photograph) are now know as cjiscjeluts, a Friulian word meaning “little castles”. Of the lower castle only the ruins from the ancient tower remain.