Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Friuli

The visit to Casarsa should begin at the house of Susanna Colussi, Pasolini’s mother, where the writer spent part of his childhood and adolescence. Today it hosts the Centro Studi Pier Paolo Pasolini, where a permanent exhibition is set up featuring various documents: a collection of manuscripts from the Friulian period, including the Red Notebooks (1946– 1947) and the Political Manifestos (1949), Pasolini’s correspondence with friends and relatives, his ink drawings, and family photographs.
If you do not have a bicycle, there is no problem: the Centro Studi provides bicycles for those who wish to continue the visit following the proposed itinerary.

The second stop is the small Church of Santa Croce, with frescoes by Pomponio Amalteo that Pasolini himself, helped by the young people of Casarsa, began to clean and restore. Here there is also a plaque commemorating the Turkish raid of 1499, which inspired the theatrical drama I Turcs tal Friûl.

Nearby, the small village of Versuta, with its beautiful Church of Sant’Antonio Abate, bears witness to Pasolini’s experience during the years of the Second World War: this is where the Academiuta di Lenga Furlana was founded, a sort of literary salon attended by Pasolini and various friends who aimed to promote the Friulian language by giving it literary dignity. The church of Versuta, the nearby Versa stream, and the surrounding countryside were evoked and celebrated by Pasolini in his Poesie a Casarsa.

The small hamlet of San Giovanni di Casarsa, on the other hand, is linked to the poet’s political commitment: here he had wall posters put up— often inspired by himself— written in Italian and Friulian and imbued with strong political polemic.

San Vito al Tagliamento, certified with the Orange Flag, is an elegant and lively town. Throughout the year it hosts numerous events, including art exhibitions and theatrical performances. The historic center preserves medieval and Renaissance architecture, a richly frescoed castle, the Church of Santa Maria dei Battuti with frescoes by Pomponio Amalteo, and a small but delightful 18th- century theater.

San Vito al Tagliamento inspired Pasolini in particular because, in January 1948, it was the scene of a revolt by farmers and laborers protesting the failure to implement the Lodo De Gasperi, which provided compensation for war damages to farmers by landowners. The noble residences of the landowners were occupied by demonstrators in an attempt to force them to accept the clauses of the De Gasperi proposal. These were dramatic events that Pasolini— already a Communist activist and close to the rebels’ cause— later immortalized in part of the novel Il sogno di una cosa, disguising the real name of San Vito under the fictional equivalent of Gruaro.

From San Vito you can continue by bicycle following the Anello dei borghi e delle acque R025, a 34-km scenic cycling route suitable for everyone. The itinerary includes two of The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy, Cordovado and Sesto al Reghena, which struck Pasolini for their medieval architecture and the beauty of the surrounding landscape, rich in springs and small lakes, but above all for traces of the presence of Ippolito Nievo, an author particularly dear to him. Among these is the famous Fontana di Venchiaredo, set among the trees of a small wood, celebrated in Nievo’s Confessions of an Italian and later evoked in verse by Pasolini as well.

The oldest core of Cordovado is the evocative Borgo Castello, where early medieval structures intertwine with 18th- century lines of two noble residences. Nearby, Sesto al Reghena is home to a Benedictine Abbey of Lombard origin, fortified in the 10th century to the point of becoming a kind of castle with defensive moats and towers.

From Sesto al Reghena, return to San Vito by completing the R025 loop and then follow a stretch of the FVG6 cycle route to reach Valvasone.

The beautiful medieval village of Valvasone is known as the place where Pasolini worked as a teacher at the local middle school from 1947 until autumn 1949. But the town— described by Pasolini as a “city of silence”— also exerted other influences on the young and sensitive poet, particularly connected to the charm of the past and of art.

The village has preserved its medieval appearance intact, with charming narrow streets and ancient residences with arcades. It developed around an imposing early medieval castle, which today appears as a noble 16th-century residence. Inside, the castle houses late- Gothic and Renaissance frescoes and a precious 18th- century wooden theater.

On the way back, before returning the bicycle to the Centro Studi, do not forget a final farewell to Pasolini, who rests in the cemetery of his beloved Casarsa.