Aviano

Aviano (Friulian: Davian; Cimbrian: Pleif) is a town and comune in the province of Pordenone at the foot of the Dolomites mountain range in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy.

Aviano
Comune di Aviano
Town hall in Aviano
Location of Aviano
Aviano
Location of Aviano in Italy
Aviano
Aviano (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
Coordinates: 46°04′N 12°35′E
CountryItaly
RegionFriuli-Venezia Giulia
ProvincePordenone (PN)
FrazioniVillotta, Costa, Giais, Marsure, Piancavallo, Castello di Aviano, San Martino di Campagna
Government
  MayorIlario De Marco Zompit
Area
  Total113.35 km2 (43.76 sq mi)
Elevation
159 m (522 ft)
Population
 (31 December 2017)[2]
  Total9,080
  Density80/km2 (210/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Avianesi
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
33081
Dialing code0434
Patron saintSt. Zeno
WebsiteOfficial website

Aviano is home to the C.R.O. (Oncological Referral Center), a cancer research centre, one of the few in Italy and reference point for north-eastern Italy.

The Piancavallo ski resort is part of the municipality.

History

Although Aviano has been inhabited only since the 10th century AD, evidence of a human presence dates to before the Romans entered the area in 186 BC. Most historians believe that Aviano developed with a commercial center located where present day Aviano is situated and a cultural and defensive center in the castle area. Aviano was a possession of the Patriarchal State of Friuli until 1420, when it came under the influence of the Venetian Republic. Aviano became a part of the Italian State in 1866.

Geography

Although the village is located at the foot of the Carnic Prealpi, the municipality extends to an altitude of over 1,280 metres (4,200 feet) above sea level, near the ski resort of Piancavallo and Busa Villotta.

Climate

Climate data for Aviano (1981-2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 7.4
(45.3)
8.9
(48.0)
13.0
(55.4)
17.1
(62.8)
22.1
(71.8)
25.6
(78.1)
28.3
(82.9)
28.3
(82.9)
23.7
(74.7)
18.4
(65.1)
12.5
(54.5)
8.3
(46.9)
17.8
(64.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) 3.5
(38.3)
4.6
(40.3)
8.6
(47.5)
12.8
(55.0)
17.7
(63.9)
21.2
(70.2)
23.6
(74.5)
23.5
(74.3)
19.1
(66.4)
14.3
(57.7)
8.7
(47.7)
4.6
(40.3)
13.5
(56.3)
Average low °C (°F) −0.3
(31.5)
0.2
(32.4)
4.2
(39.6)
8.4
(47.1)
13.3
(55.9)
16.7
(62.1)
18.9
(66.0)
18.6
(65.5)
14.5
(58.1)
10.2
(50.4)
4.8
(40.6)
0.8
(33.4)
9.2
(48.6)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 25.9
(1.02)
21.6
(0.85)
32.8
(1.29)
44.4
(1.75)
69.0
(2.72)
49.1
(1.93)
43.4
(1.71)
49.8
(1.96)
61.5
(2.42)
50.1
(1.97)
65.4
(2.57)
42.9
(1.69)
555.9
(21.88)
Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) 2 2 3 4 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 40
Source: [3]

Main sights

Religious buildings

  • The Cathedral of San Zenone (Duomo), built between 1775 and 1832. It has paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries, one of which attributed to Paolo Veronese's school.
  • The church of St. Gregory, in the frazione of Castello, with a precious fresco cycle of the Passion of Christ (late 16th century).
  • Sanctuary of the Madonna del Monte(Madonna of the mountain), built in 1615 on the site of a Marian apparition, was remodeled in the Baroque style.
  • Church of Santa Caterina, in the frazione of Marsure, built in the fifteenth century and richly frescoed with scenes from the life of Santa.
  • Parish Church of Giais, retains a baroque altarpiece of O. Gortanutti.
  • Parish Church of San Martino (frazione of San Martino di Campagna). Guards inside a canvas of Pomponio Amalteo and some wooden works of the seventeenth century.
  • Church of San Floriano of the fifteenth century.

Secular buildings

  • The remains of the Castle (first half of the 10th century), on a hill nearby the city, including two towers, the mastio and the walls. The latter include the Renaissance-style church of Santa Maria e Giuliana (1589), which houses a precious stone Pietà sculpture by masters from Salzburg.
  • The village has a total of 7 Venetian villas protected by the Regional Institute Venetian Villas (IRVV). The following villas can be visited upon request: Villa Policreti-Fabris with the adjoining frescoed chapel, Villa Bonassi and Villa Zanussi-Fabris. You must then remember the imposing presence of Villa Menegozzi Brazzoduro dating from the mid-eighteenth century (the interior is decorated with landscape views done with tempera technique).

Natural places

A part of Piancavallo ski resort.
  • The ski resort of Piancavallo, elevation 1,267 metres (4,157 ft) above sea level, at the foot of Monte Cavallo, 2,250 metres (7,380 ft). On one of the peaks of Monte Cavallo there is a bronze statue of the Virgin Mary by the sculptor Pierino Sam Pordenone (1921-2010).

Transport

Aviano is served by a station on the Sacile-Pinzano Railway: the Aviano railway station. The Sacile-Pinzano line connects the town of Sacile, on the Venice-Udine railway, to the village of Pinzano, on the Gemona del Friuli-Pinzano line.
As of today, the service is limited from Sacile to Maniago.

Aviano Air Base

USAF F-16s in the Aviano air base.

Aviano Air Base was established by Italy in 1911. The base was among the first ones available to Italian aviation.

There has been an American presence at Aviano Air Base since the end of World War II. In 1954 the Italian and American governments signed a joint use agreement and by 1955, HQ United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) had moved its Italian operations from Udine to Aviano. The base went through a period of hosting rotational fighter squadrons. With the declining use of the Italian live fire range, the rotational squadrons became a thing of the past. Aviano became a war reserve material storage base and played a big part in Desert Storm. In 1992, HQ 16th Air Force and the 401st Fighter Wing moved from Torrejon Air Base, Spain to Aviano. The Wing became home to two F-16 fighter squadrons, the 510th FS and the 555th FS. Both squadrons relocated from Ramstein AB in 1994 and redesignated. The wing was redesignated from the 401st Fighter Wing to the 31st Fighter Wing in 1994 as Aviano took on permanently based aircraft for the first time in over 50 years. The base currently performs a NATO mission with close coordination with Italian personnel.

International relations

Aviano is twinned with:

People

  • Marco d'Aviano (1631-1699), Capuchin friar confessor of Emperor Leopold I of Austria, was born in Aviano, in the hamlet of Villotta.
  • Fabio Rossitto (1971), former football player in Italia Serie A and in the Italian national team.
  • Amy Adams (1974), American actress who lived for nine years in Aviano; after this experience she named her daughter Aviana.
  • Luca Manfè, winner of MasterChef US season 4

References


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