Latisana ( fur, Tisane, locally ) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the province of Udine, in the

Friuli Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

region of north-eastern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, on the Tagliamento river.

History

The city was probably a Roman post station (''Mansio Apicilia'') on the Via Annia which connected Concordia to

Aquileia Aquileia / / / / ;Bilingual name of ''Aquileja – Oglej'' in: vec, Aquiłeja / ; Slovenian: ''Oglej''), group=pron is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river ...

. The city is first mentioned in 1072, and became an important river port in the 12 and 13th centuries, especially known for salt trade, under the counts of

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gori ...

. In the 12th century it became an autonomous commune, annexed by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...

in 1420. The trade declined in the late years of the Republic of Venice, and the city was acquired by the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

with the

Treaty of Campo Formio The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The trea ...

(1797). In 1814 it became part of the client Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia and, in 1866, of the newly formed

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

. During the 20th century wars it suffered heavy damage, especially in the bombing of 19 May 1944 that destroyed the historical centre. Further damage was caused by the floods of the Tagliamento in 1965 and 1966.

Twin towns

Latisana is twinned with: * Reichenau an der Rax, Austria, since 2005

Main sights

The Cathedral ( Duomo) was rebuilt in the 17th century over the old 1504 edifice. The main attractions are the canvas portraying the ''Baptism of Jesus'' (1567) by Paolo Veronese and a wooden ''Crucifix'' (1566) by Andrea Fosco. The choir has a ''Transfiguration'' (1591) by Marco Moro and the first altar on the left has a ''Holy Family with Saints'' by Giovan Battista Grassi (1568).

Transportation

* Latisana-Lignano-Bibione railway station

External links

Official website

Cities and towns in Friuli-Venezia Giulia {{FriuliVeneziaGiulia-geo-stub