gemona
 
 
 
The peak district in the north of Friuli is known as the Carnia , a name given to it by the Celtic tribes who settled here in the fourth century BC. If you're approaching the area by road or rail from Udine, you could make a stop at GEMONA , a little town that was largely destroyed in the 1976 earthquake, when almost 1000 people were killed and around 15,000 houses destroyed. The historic centre, on the steep-sided hilltop, has been devotedly reconstructed and feels disconcertingly like a film set. The cathedral, once a marvellous Romanesque-Gothic specimen, is notable for the enormous fourteenth-century statue of St Christopher on the facade.

Gemona is a good staging post on the way into the Carnia, with a couple of fine and inexpensive hotels . The better one is the Agli Amici , a couple of kilometres out of the centre at Via G. Odo 44 (tel 0432.981.013; L60,000-90,000/30.99-46.48) - turn right outside the station then head along Via Piovega, following the yellow signs; the alternative is the Si-Si , Via Piovega 15 (tel 0432.981.158; L90,000-120,000/46.48-61.98). There's an excellent trattoria at the Agli Amici , while Al Falomo , Via Bini 11 (closed Wed), on the main street just down from the Duomo has pizzas and an inexpensive tourist menu.

The Carnia proper begins north of Gemona, around the headwaters of the River Tagliamento, and comprises two distinct areas. To the west, hay meadows and orchards give way to the Alpine uplands and pastures of the Alpi Carniche , which share the culture of the eastern Dolomites. To the east, the high, sheer and often barren limestone peaks of the Alpi Giulie are divided by deep, forested valleys that radiate towards the borders with Austria in the north and Slovenia in the east. Both of these ranges are hardly known even within Italy, yet the area has a lot to offer the hiker and climber. Linguists should get a kick out of it too, as the villagers speak strange variants of friulano , German and Slovene.

If you want to plan a Carnia walking trip in advance, call in at the Udine office of the Società Alpina Friulana , Via Odorico da Pordenone 3 (daily 5-7.30pm plus Mon, Thurs, Fri 9-11pm; tel 0432.504.290, safcai@tin.it ).