Pontebba (; ; ) is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

region of

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...

Geography

Pontebba, named after meaning "bridge", is situated at the confluence of the Pontebbana creek and the Fella River, itself a tributary of the

Tagliamento The Tagliamento (; ; ) is a braided river in north-east Italy, flowing from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea at a point between Trieste and Venice. The Tagliamento river is considered as the last morphologically intact river in the Alps. (I ...

. It is located about northwest of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

and about north of

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

, near the border with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. As of 31 October 2020, Pontebba had a population of 1,344 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute

Istat The Italian National Institute of Statistics (; Istat) is the primary source of official statistics in Italy. The institute conducts a variety of activities, including the census of population, economic censuses, and numerous social, economic, a ...

. The municipality contains the (boroughs) of Aupa, Loc. Casali Costa, Loc. Casali Graben, Loc. Frattis, Loc. Gamischen, Passo Pramollo, Loc. Piani, Pietratagliata, Lagleise San Leopoldo, Studena Alta, Studena Bassa Pontebba borders the following municipalities: Dogna in the south,

Hermagor-Pressegger See Hermagor-Pressegger See () is a town in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is the administrative centre of the Hermagor District. The town is named after Saint Hermagoras of Aquileia, the first bishop of Aquileia. Geography Location Hermagor ...

(Austria) in the north, Malborghetto Valbruna in the east and Moggio Udinese in the west.

History

From the early 10th century onward, Pontebbana Creek formed the border between the

March of Verona March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 21 ...

, the former Lombard

Duchy of Friuli The Duchy of Friuli () was a Lombard duchy in present-day Friuli, the first to be established after the conquest of the Italian peninsula in 568. It was one of the largest domains in '' Langobardia Major'' and an important buffer between the L ...

to the south, and the Bavarian

March of Carinthia March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 21 ...

to the north. After the 1420 conquest of the

Patriarchate of Aquileia The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an episcopal see and ecclesiastical province in northeastern Italy, originally centered in the ancient city of Aquileia, situated near the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It emerged in the 4th century as a m ...

, the settlement of Pontebba south of the creek belonged to the ''

Domini di Terraferma The () or () was the hinterland territories of the Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime ...

'' of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. The corresponding settlement of ''Pontafel'' north of the bridge belonged to the Carinthian Canal Valley, an exclave held by the Imperial Prince-Bishopric of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

, which was incorporated into the

Inner Austria Inner Austria (; ; ) was a term used from the late 14th to the early 17th century for the Habsburg hereditary lands south of the Semmering Pass, referring to the Imperial duchies of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola and the lands of the Austrian Li ...

n territories of the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

dynasty in 1759. It was only in 1874 that the

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

came to Pontafel. The opening of a k.k. State telegraph station with "limited daily services" took place at the same time as in other smaller places of the monarchy. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

according to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the border of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

with the

Republic of Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

was shifted up the Canal Valley north to the town of

Tarvisio Tarvisio ( German and ; ) is a (municipality) in the Regional Decentralization Entity of Udine, in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Geography The town is in the Canal Valley (''Val Canale'') between the Carnic Alps and Ka ...

. The two settlements of Pontebba (Italy) and Pontafel (formerly Austrian) were finally merged on 15 August 1924. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the rail line through the town was the target of heavy aerial bombardment by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

because it was used by

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to transport supplies to Italy. However, the aerial bombardment did not succeed in damaging the rail line, which is still in use today.

Sports

''Aquile Friuli-Venezia Giulia'', the region's flagship

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team, plays its home games at the ''PalaVuerich'' arena in Pontebba and is affiliated with the local ice sports society ''Sport Ghiaccio Pontebba''. The team is a member of the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

and won the 2008 Italian Cup.

Transport

Pontebba can be reached via the ''A23''

autostrada The ''autostrade'' (; : ''autostrada'', ) are roads forming the Italian national system of motorways. The total length of the system is about , as of 30 July 2022. There are also 13 motorway spur routes, which extend for . Most of the Itali ...

European route E55 European route E55 is an E-route. It starts in southern Sweden, crosses the Øresund strait to Denmark, and passes through more water (the western Baltic Sea) to reach continental Europe on Rostock, Germany. Thence it continues further southwar ...

, running from

Palmanova Palmanova () is a town and (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northeast Italy. The town is an example of a star fort of the late Renaissance, built up by the Venetian Republic in 1593. Th ...

and the ''A4'' to Tarvisio and the Austrian A2 Süd Autobahn, as well as by the parallel ''Strada Statale 13 Pontebbana''. Here the ''Strade Provinciale 110'' to the

Naßfeld Pass Nassfeld Pass (, ) is a mountain pass connecting Hermagor-Pressegger See, Hermagor in the Austrian state of Carinthia with Pontebba in the Italy, Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located in the Carnic Alps between the Gail (river) ...

() branches off. The Pontebba train station is at the new ''Pontebbana'' railway line from Udine to Tarvisio and the Austrian border. Opened in 2000, it replaces the old ''k.k. Staatsbahn Tarvis-Pontafel'' built in 1879.

Demographic evolution

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:455 height:303 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:5000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2011 text:2011 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:0 bar:1871 from: 0 till:3114 bar:1881 from: 0 till:3457 bar:1901 from: 0 till:3829 bar:1911 from: 0 till:4591 bar:1921 from: 0 till:4121 bar:1931 from: 0 till:4022 bar:1936 from: 0 till:3703 bar:1951 from: 0 till:3931 bar:1961 from: 0 till:3561 bar:1971 from: 0 till:3013 bar:1981 from: 0 till:2502 bar:1991 from: 0 till:2206 bar:2001 from: 0 till:1768 bar:2011 from: 0 till:1503 PlotData= bar:1861 at:0 fontsize:XS text: ? shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:3114 fontsize:XS text: 3114 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:3457 fontsize:XS text: 3457 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:3829 fontsize:XS text: 3829 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:4591 fontsize:XS text: 4591 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:4121 fontsize:XS text: 4121 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:4022 fontsize:XS text: 4022 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:3703 fontsize:XS text: 3703 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:3931 fontsize:XS text: 3931 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:3561 fontsize:XS text: 3561 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:3013 fontsize:XS text: 3013 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:2502 fontsize:XS text: 2502 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:2206 fontsize:XS text: 2206 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:1768 fontsize:XS text: 1768 shift:(-8,5) bar:2011 at:1503 fontsize:XS text: 1503 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

Notable residents

* Adele Faccio, politician * Ernesto Lomasti, mountaineer

References

External links

www.comune.pontebba.ud.it
{{authority control Cities and towns in Friuli-Venezia Giulia