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an Daniele del Friuli is an attractive little town clinging to the high ground formed by the western extremity of the southernmost and oldest circle of the river Tagliamento’s morainal amphitheatre; it is the heir of the free medieval commune that had a “voice” in the parliament of the patriarchal State and enjoyed a high level of autonomy even after the Venetian conquest as its castle was one of the few places that the defeated patriarch managed to keep under his full feudal jurisdiction. Following the terrible earthquakes of 1976 this is the only historical town North of Udine whose original ancient urban structure is still intact, yet this little treasure trove of art and history is best known for its delicious San Daniele ham. Legend has it that the patriarchs of Aquileia decided to establish one of their residences here so as to be assured of a generous supply of this delicacy. In actual fact, even though the process of salt-curing was known in ancient times, the reasons behind that decision were not dictated by gluttony; even if production processes have changed radically over the centuries, the local climate is still the same and it is the climate that contributes to the production of a gastronomic speciality and, since ancient times, has attracted people of diverse origins to the area.
Legend ties San Daniele’s origins to the Lombard
Rodoaldo who apparently killed Leone, patriarch of Aquileia, in
927 then repented and atoned for his sin by having the little
church built on the knoll: fact cannot spoil the charm of the
legend, but archaeologists have proved that the town’s origins
actually go back much  further.
Archaeological excavations on the hilltop have revealed evidence
of a late-Bronze Age settlement (twelfth-tenth c. BC) while the
discovery of two small votive bronzes dating from the later period
of the Iron Age reveal the possible presence of an early-Veneto
shrine (fourth-third c. BC) and that the area was frequented throughout
the first millennium BC. It continued to be frequented during
the Roman era as shown by the traces of plastered walls and the
pottery, stone, metal and glass fragments (first c. BC fourth
c. AD) found under the Church of San Daniele in Castello, as well
as all the other remains found in other sites around San Daniele.
The locality was, in fact, near one of the Regio’s main roads,
the per compendium road that went from Concordia to Noricum by-passing
Aquileia.
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The hill was abandoned in the fifth century and re-inhabited in the seventh century and during the Frankish kingdom, when it was probably fortified: the oldest part of the chapel dedicated to the town’s patron saint dates from between the end of the 8th and the beginning of the ninth century. In the eleventh century a third nave with an apse was added, enlarging
the Carolingian chapel southwards; the Romanesque church, which was surrounded on all sides by a burial ground,
was again enlarged at the beginning of the thirteenth century, restored in 1438, significantly renovated in 1666-68 and completely reconstructed in 1747-55.
The first medieval settlement was built on the hilltop around the church dedicated to the prophet: the numerous alterations to the church were undoubtedly a result of changes in the castle complex and hence an increase in the number of feudal habitatores. Later the area was progressively abandoned and the citadel, the site of Friuli’s most important public market after those in Aquileia and Cividale, spread over the South-western terracing, gradually descending the sides of the hillock towards the plain and eventually merging with surrounding hamlets formed by rural dwellings set around a courtyard (a corte), typical of the area.
Apart from archaeological finds, little is known of the hilltop castle’s origins. It was briefly described in a document dated 1203 but recorded at least in the twelfth century; perhaps in the eleventh century it was already the property of the Aquileia patriarchs by whom it was enfeoffed to ministerial nobles who later also obtained the castle of Varmo di Sopra by feoffment, assuming the title of the (by then extinct) family of the same name. The castle held a strategic position and was damaged both by earthquakes and sieges between the fourteenth and the sixteenth century when it was gradually abandoned. A park now occupies the site, commanding a fine view over the surrounding countryside; remains of earthworks and the tower which later became the bell tower can be seen. In the second half of the eighteenth century Villa Ticozzi-de Concina with its elegant neoclassical façade and projecting central pronaos was built over the site of the castle and in 1992 traces of the ancient defensive moat emerged from the garden.
As well as the castle, in the Middle Ages San Daniele was also defended by its walls. These have been almost completely demolished although the so-called Portonŕt still survives, this was a tower gate whose exterior was covered in 1579-80 by an ashlar portal built by Antonio Podaro after a plan by Andrea Palladio. Other surviving traces of the walls includes a few sections of the curtain walls into one of which is inserted the apse of the Gothic Church of Santa Maria della Fratta, started in 1350. |
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