Palmanova, province of Udine; train station at Palmanova, or alternatively at Cervignano del Friuli about 10 km/6 miles to the south; for the cyclist, it is located along the Ciclovia Alpe Adria, the bike route between Italy and Austria running from Salzburg to Grado; it can be reached on bike following various routes described elsewhere in this website: from Cervignano del Friuli, and the Nogara-Gorizia and Nogaro-Codroipo routes.
Palmanova is one of the most famous fortress cities in the world; it was constructed during the sixteenth century, completed in 1593, by the Venetians to defend la Serenissima [romantic nickname for the Venetian republic] from the neighboring Austrian Empire and also from the encroachment of the Ottoman Empire. In charge of the project was the military engineer Giulio Savorgnan with primary direction from (*)Bonaiuto Lorini; also contributing were Marcantonio Martinengo, Orazio Guberna and Vincenzo Scamozzi, who is accredited with the design of the three entry gates.
The fortress layout follows strict geometric forms: the bastion walls have the form of a nine-pointed star with the two diameters ranging from 950 m/3,117 feet to 1,240 m/4,070 feet; at every third point there is an entry gate: Porta Udine to the northwest, Porta Cividale to the northeast, and Porta Aquileia to the south.
In the middle of the star there is a large hexagonal piazza; at each face of the hexagon a street emanates from its center; of the six streets, three take one directly to the three gates.
The fortress was expanded by Napoleon, respecting the original form but adding an outer bastion wall approximately 1,850 m/6,070 feet in diameter.
Currently the city walls are surrounded by a dry moat and a ring road that follows the shape of the nine-pointed star. Between the bastion walls and the moats there are several bike and foot paths. The bike route that mostly follows along the Napoleonic bastions is unpaved and about 12 km/7.5 miles long; clearly it is a route for a mountain bike.
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