There was a time when people of many lineages transited from the Adriatic to the Noricum and vice versa along the easy Alpine passes above the sources of the Fella / Tagliamento. They did not leave many visible traces behind, but they produced cultures and ideas on both slopes of the Alps, of the Valcanale and the Canale del Ferro. This name already indicates that one of the most coveted goods was iron.

Tarvisio has seen incessant trade pass through the town across the centuries of invasions and migrations of the High Medieval And, to the related mergers, additions, confrontations and encounters, followed the destiny of the peoples. The Gepids, masterful metallurgists, merged with the Lombards and vanished, while the latter were assimilated by the Romans who they had conquered and in turn mingled with the Byzantines and the Franks who defeated them. The Veneti, even before this, had mixed with Celts and Illyrians. The Slovenes occupied empty spots and in turn were blended with the other ethnic groups.

A point of convergence and encounter. Geographical: the Mediterranean bioregions, Balkan Dinaric and Central European Noric. Cultural regions: the Latin, the Slavic, the Germanic. Religious ones with Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox. On Monte Forno (which should more appropriately be called “Dreilaendereck”) the triple border between Italy, Slovenia and Austria in a real sense marks the physical, historical and cultural centre of Europe.