Fortezza di Osoppo

Girolamo di Porcia described the castle in 1567: “Osoppo Castle and Fortress, standing on a hilltop overlooking the River Tagliamento, at the foot of the mountains but too far from them to permit a rapid retreat.” Originally a Celtic settlement, later a Roman fortified village, Osoppo was first mentioned in 550 by Venantius Fortunatus: “Per rupes Osope tuas quo lambitur undis.” Lombard historian Paul the Deacon tells us that in 610 the castle was besieged by the Avars.  Plundered and burnt by the Hungarians in 902, it was donated in 1094 to the Abbey of Sesto al Reghena. In 1255 Patriarch Gregorio di Montelongo granted it to nobleman Cono d’Osoppo as his private residence; on 25 July 1328, on the orders of Patriarch Paganus von Thurn (Pagano della Torre), it was given to Federico di Savorgnano who subsequently added the name “de Monte” to his title. Having become an important Venetian outpost, it was bravely defended by Girolamo Savorgnan in 1514. Occupied by the French in 1797, it was the theatre of important battles in 1809-1814 and 1848.