Torre di Tarvisio

According to Paolo Santonino (1485-87), Tarvisio parish church was defended by a curtain wall surrounded by a moat and furnished with towers and bastions; the bell tower was provided with very large walls and could offer protection in case of a siege. By that time Tarvisio was already a town of some importance, having developed as a commercial and mining centre.  According to Fausino Moisesso (1616) it consisted of two separate villages lying close by at a different altitude, connected by the church and rich in “buone habitationi” (nice houses). What is left of the ancient defensive works are portions of walls and two towers; a third one having been demolished in the 19th century. The two surviving towers, which are not very high, are topped by a characteristic roof covered with flat wooden tiles; a tower has a round plan, the other an octagonal one. The town contains some attractive patrician houses in a Germanic style. The church and the octagonal tower have some interesting works of art.