Castelraimondo (Forgaria)

What we see today of Castelraimondo is perhaps only one part of three fortresses which in ancient times were erected on a buttress which from one side dominated the Arzino torrent and from the other side the Tagliamento river. The castle was called Scjaramont or Zuc Scjaramont, which is where the name Castelraimondo comes from; perhaps in remembrance of Patriarch Raimund von Thurn who had ordered the redevelopment of the fortress.

Its construction began in 1279 on the orders of Variento di Flagogna, who had purchased the land from the Lords of Forgaria. Inevitably the castle’s close proximity to Flagogna Castle was bound to produce acts of hostility, as in 1288, in 1290 and so forth. The castle was set on fire and destroyed in 1300 and re-inhabited in 1325; it was set on fire once again in 1335 by Ettore Savorgnan who was acting on behalf of Udine. In 1344 Ettore Savorgana tried once again to gain possession of Casteraimondo, which had become a den of “wayward men” who dedicated their time to robbing merchants passing along the roads controlled by the castle: the road along the Arzino valley leading to Carnia, the road from Gemona running alongside the Tagliamento river, and the western Pedemontana road.

On June 22, 1348 the Parliament of Friuli, following the proposal of Patriarch Bertram (Bertrando), decreed that there was not to be any reconstruction in the area nor should a castle ever come to exist because the area had become “spelunca latronum”.

Recent excavations carried out on top of Zuc Scjaramont hill, in addition to findings from the castle dating to the Medieval period, have uncovered the foundations of prehistoric dwellings, traces of ancient metallurgical activity, as well as segments of Roman walls, fibulas, earrings, fragments of vases etc., attesting to the fact that this area had been a site of human settlements for thousands of years.