Italy off the beaten path: the Friulan Collio and the Rosazzo Abbey

The surroundings of Gorizia, in Friuli Venezia Giulia, offer an enchanting and relaxing landscape of rolling hills dotted with wineries and cellars where the best Italian white wines in the world and full-bodied reds are produced: it is the Collio, which has its main center in Cormons. 

Vineyards in the Collio Goriziano

This area, geographically delimited by the Isonzo river and its tributary Iudrio, covers 150 square km divided between the province of Gorizia and Slovenia. Here, the location between mountains and sea creates a unique microclimate, in terms of ventilation and temperature range, that works perfectly with the characteristic terrain of the Collio (called ponca), made up of stratified marl and sandstone, ideal for growing grapes. 

This is white wine land where the local Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia Istriana, Friulano and Picolit grow side by side with the international Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc to create whites that are among the most celebrated Italian wines in the world. 

Vineyards in the Collio Goriziano

In this gentle landscape of green rolling hills covered in vineyards and olive groves, in an isolated area north-east of Manzano, about twenty kilometers from Udine and ten from the border with Slovenia stands the Rosazzo Abbey complex. 

Its origins are not yet completely clear, but it was built around the year 1000, in Romanesque style and it is dedicated to St. Peter the Apostle; it bears the signs of the renovations that have taken place over time with architectural elements dating back to different eras (early medieval, 16th and 19th century).

Rosazzo Abbey

The church is simple in structure (regular plan with three naves). The façade has a mullioned window of probable Benedictine origin, like the other two mullioned windows visible from the cloister. The interiors, recently restored, are decorated with frescoes by Francesco India, known as the "Moro" or "Torbido", all dating back to 1535. The altar, dating back to the second half of the 18th century, is the work by the Udine sculptors Giovanni and Giuseppe Mattiussi as well as the statues that adorn the church.

View from Rosazzo Abbey

The abbey is divided into a complex of buildings; next to the church there is a cloister and the chapel of the Crucifixion, while in the adjoining buildings there are some ordinary rooms of the monastery: the chapter room, the dormitory and the refectory.

A large terrace overlooks the vineyards of the Rosazzo DOCG, one of the most important oenological realities of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Historical documents, testifying how the production of wine was directly connected with the existence of the Abbey itself, starting from the 13th  century, are still preserved in the buildings.

The ageing cellar, also part of the complex, which can be visited by appointment, is the oldest in Friuli and dates back to the end of 1200; it was used by the Benedictine monks for the refinement of their wines and for the conservation of olive oil.

View from Rosazzo Abbey

Along the perimeter of the Abbey complex is the Sentiero delle Rose (Path of the roses) planted in 1998 and made up of some of the most important families of ancient roses (Gallica, Alba, Damascena, Centifoglia, Chinese, Whicuraiana, etc.) as well as several modern roses.

Among the roses, a plate tells the legend of the name "Rosazzo"; it comes apparently from a wild type of rose that was lost during a frost in 1929. It is said that it has been later found in France, brought by 2 Friulan emigrants with them in 1925.

Rosazzo Abbey

Nowadays, the monastery operates as a cultural, a humanistic and social meeting point.