Archways and other Portogruaro, Italy Things to Do Tips

In Portogruaro, archways are everywhere and I feel it is the city where I have seen the greatest number and variety of archways. They seem to be all the same, but if you take a closer look, they actually are all different.

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These ones are more of a Romanesque style and look older. So many archways of various styles give a special character to the city of Portogruaro. Archways are found nearly everywhere in Europe but their distribution is amazing and seems to match somehow the extension of the Roman Empire. In France; few in Paris, a lot in Metz, none in Strasbourg, a few in Lyon, a lot in Chambéry and Annecy, none in Grenoble, none in Marseille. None in Geneva but they can be seen in several smaller cities of the canton of Geneva and Vaud. In northern Italy they are present in most cities. In Croatia, as far as I remember, none except a few in Dubrovnik. I will have to look for a survey on the distribution of archways in Europe as that puzzles me.

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In Portogruaro, when you walk across the town in July, you understand very quickly that these archways allow to stroll in the shade and have a cooler time that if you had to walk under the sun ! But there are cities with a lot of archways where the sun is not that hot ! For example, Metz in France.

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In the modern part of the town, a lot of archways have been built too. They must have been built to fulfill the same need of freshness than in the older part of the city. However, they do not look so pretty by far !

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This palace is a fine example of 15th century architecture inspired by Venetian design. The three large Gothic arcades support two floors, the second of which was probably added later, divided by two elegant terracotta cornices. The palace has extensive traces of 16th century fresco decoration.

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A narrow passage, only partly shaded (this is the end of July and it is very hot !), allows going from the main street with its shaded archways towards the campanile, the old mills and the Town Hall, where there will be no shade at all !

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At the turn of the 19th century, there were several mills on the Lemene river, for olives, for wheat, etc… After ceasing their original function at the beginning of the 20th century, some were destroyed but the Old Mill has been kept and is now used to house art exhibitions.

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The Lemene river flows in the middle of the town. For centuries, it played a very important part in the economical life of the town, with several watermills running. Now, it brings a strip of coolness and pleasant landscape for the citizen and the (too) few visitors.

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Often, the road side of houses is beautiful, carved and ornamented but the rear is plain and mean. Interestingly, in Portogruaro, even the rear of the houses has been treated in the same way as the front side, which adds to the quality of the sight.

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The wide façade is characterized by 3 portals on the ground floor and by Venetian inspired windows. The original heart of the present palace had two gothic windows, brick stairway and was topped by elegant ghibelline battlements. The enlargement was carried out in 1552 using recuperated materials from the demolished Bishop’s castle. Two side parts were harmoniously added to the original central building.
At the foot of the façade there are 17th century figures that are perhaps river gods.

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