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<\/p>\nThis article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).<\/p>\n
Ask the people of Gorizia what defines their home, and some will show you a photo of a cow, standing between a house and its wooden stables, straddling a white line on the ground. On the night of 15 September 1947, following the end of the Second World War and the treaties that retraced the contours of Europe, soldiers armed with paintbrushes split this medieval city in Italy\u2019s north east. The centre remained part of Italy; the farms and fields, on the eastern outskirts, were given to neighbouring Yugoslavia, modern-day Slovenia. The shot was taken in the morning, when the image of the animal over the new perimeter \u2014 seeming half defiant, half unsure where it belonged \u2014 captured a sentiment locals found hard to put into words.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t speak of a border here,\u201d says guide Anna Santellani, clad in head-to-toe Lycra, adjusting the saddle of her mountain bike. We\u2019re about to set off on the Pedemontana, a four-stage, 113-mile cycling trail that links Gorizia and the city of Salice. Over two days, we\u2019ll tackle two legs, each about 25 miles, cutting north west across the surrounding Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, spending the night in towns and villages along the way. Our starting point is Gorizia\u2019s centre, not far from the spot where the picture was taken. \u201cFew other places have such a sense of porosity, of continuity. The divide is something relative.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The historical Via Rastello in Gorizia town centre regularly comes alive in its modern cafes.<\/p>\n
Photograph by Francesco Lastrucci<\/p>\n
In the wake of the partition, the twin, modernist centre of Nova Gorica (New Gorizia) was founded just across the edge of Slovenia. The two destinations have been jointly recognised as the 2025 European Capital of Culture, the first time the title has been shared by two hosts. Walking tours cover the troubled history of the area, taking in sights ranging from fascist-era buildings to a tribute to communist statesman Josip Tito spelled in stones on a nearby mount. Meanwhile, the programme of events, running until December, aims to transcend boundaries, both literally (\u2018smuggling tours\u2019 recreating the experience of 20th-century contrabandists) and figuratively (an exhibition on the \u2018thresholds\u2019 of fashion).<\/p>\n
In a way, it\u2019s a fitting welcome to the Pedemontana. The trail bridges a geographical frontier, meandering through countryside along the regional Alpine border. As soon as we leave the city, we find ourselves among the gentle hills of the wine-producing Collio region, where vineyards drape the landscape like a patchwork quilt; in the distance, always in view, are the foothills of the Carnic and Julian Alps. If you were to continue to the other end of the trail, you\u2019d reach the Friulian Dolomites Natural Park, part of the UNESCO-listed Dolomite Mountains.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s partly the chance to watch the scenery unfold like this \u2014 play-by-play, slowly but continuously \u2014 that\u2019s turned Friuli-Venezia Giulia into a riders\u2019 playground in the past 15 years. On a practical note, it has dedicated infrastructure, like buses and trains fitted with bike racks; on an experiential one, it showcases a variety of landscapes, from languid beaches in the south to the Alpine peaks. In 2024, the Pedemontana won the so-called \u2018Cycling Tourism Oscar\u2019, given by the Italian Cycling Federation to paths that encourage a slower form of travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe places you visit leave their mark, and that\u2019s especially true if you\u2019re in the saddle,\u201d says Anna over her shoulder, cycling just ahead of me. \u201cIf you enter a wood, you feel it with your whole body \u2014 in the smells, sounds, on your skin.\u201d The path is easy on the wheels \u2014 partly paved, partly dirt, almost entirely flat \u2014 leaving me free to focus on what\u2019s around. We greet a woman foraging for wild hops, then brake to pick mulberries and sour marasca cherries from the roadside. We speed next to a river in full spate, energised by the rain that\u2019s fallen incessantly this spring, and cross a ford that sends splashes up our shins. When we pause at a roadside cafe, we crash a birthday party as a group of locals toasts: \u201cWe drink, we drink, we drink!\u201d<\/p>\n
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The Devil\u2019s Bridge in Cividale del Friuli offers views of the coursing Natisone River below.<\/p>\n
Photograph by Francesco Lastrucci<\/p>\n
\u201cOur wines have collected so many accolades, they\u2019re called \u2018super-whites\u2019,\u201d says Anna that evening, sipping a glass of local dry Ribolla, in a piazza in Cividale del Friuli at the end of the trail\u2019s first stage. It was the first duchy of the Longobards, a Germanic tribe that ruled most of the Italian peninsula from the sixth to the eighth centuries. They\u2019re remembered as harsh and fierce; many Italian words to describe fighting are still derived from their language.<\/p>\n
The next day, back in the saddle, we discover a similar harshness to the landscape. The trail runs closer to the foots of the mountains, which are mammoth and jagged like rock-shards. In 1976, an earthquake of biblical proportions had its epicentre here \u2014 so powerful, its ripples were said to have been felt in Rome, over 300 miles south. When the dust settled, the area was in ruins, including the 14th-century villages of Gemona, at the end of stage two, and nearby Venzone, where Anna takes me.<\/p>\n
Locals demanded it be rebuilt \u2018where it was, as it was\u2019. Old photos were consulted, the rubble sorted, the fallen building blocks placed in order and numbered. The houses were reconstructed piecemeal, with each slab in its rightful place. If original elements were too damaged, they were replaced with slightly different copies; sometimes, a translucent coat was applied to differentiate the authentic from the replica. \u201cThey wanted to avoid a \u2018theme park effect\u2019,\u201d says Anna as we walk the streets. \u201cEverything had come down, but you still feel you\u2019re somewhere real.\u201d<\/p>\n
Named Most Beautiful Village in Italy in 2017, a title assigned annually by the National Association of Italian Municipalities, Venzone is so charming you\u2019d never guess its backstory. But there are small hints of its tumultous past. On the side of the local church, Anna points out a single stone slab that was restored down its middle.<\/p>\n
Half of it is rough, the work of stonemasons of old, and half of it is sheer, a modern addition. Half of it something, half of it something else, the liminal space greater than the sum of its parts.<\/p>\n
How to do itFunActive Tours<\/a> has a six-day cycling tour of the Pedemontana from Sacile to Gorizia from \u20ac649 (\u00a3560) per person, including B&B accomodation, luggage transfers and road assistance. Equipment rental available at an extra cost.<\/p>\n This story was created with the support of Discover Italy<\/a> and PromoTurismoFVG<\/a>.<\/p>\n Published in the September 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).<\/p>\n