Magredi: all the richness of the lean lands of Friuli

If you think about it, it almost seems like an oxymoron: Friuli-Venezia Giulia is the rainiest of the twenty Italian regions, and yet it is home to one of the things in Italy that most resembles the great Eurasian steppes. It is Friuli, in short, but when you find yourself in it, it seems like you are in Russia, Kazakhstan or the Hungarian pusta. They call them Magredi , the lean lands : an arid area, with limited resources of fresh water where the gaze is lost over a long plain made of gravel, rocks and low vegetation, without a tree on the horizon, until you glimpse the mountains, far away.

They are poor lands, not suitable for productive activities, but by discovering them you will discover their landscape and naturalistic richness, their value due to a fascinating and unique ecosystem, and simply the beauty of a rare and unmistakable scenario, destined to remain in the visitor's memory.

Where are the Magredi and what are they?

The Magredi area covers an area of ​​approximately 10 thousand hectares in the western part of Friuli, which touches twelve municipalities in the province of Pordenone, among which Cordenons and Vivaro stand out, a small village enclosed between the bed of the Meduna and Cellina rivers.

The two watercourses are the origin of this particular natural context. Over the millennia, the Cellina and the Meduna have transported a large amount of debris from the Friulian mountains towards the valley and, in the area north-east of Cordenons, the finest materials have been deposited. A gravelly expanse has thus been created which, by its nature, leaves room for water to filter into the lower layers of the soil. Thus the two rivers disappear here, hidden from the eyes of surface creatures, leaving only a large gray expanse in their place.

Depending on the proximity to the gravel tongue deposited by the river, three subcategories of the Magredi can be identified: the riverbed is the stony strip, where only small shrubs and some grass stand out, while mosses and lichens reign supreme; the primitive magredo is a more stable area, where some plants resistant to arid environments grow, such as the splendid heather, with its small, melancholy pink flowers that open as far as the eye can see; finally, the evolved magredo, an even more external strip similar to the prairie, where the grass grows thick and strong.

In winter, green and resistant shrubs and grass grow among the rocks of the Magredi, reminiscent of the plains of Central Asia. In summer, everything turns yellow, resembling a savannah, without losing its charm and beauty. Instead of lions and gazelles, these lands are the kingdom of hares and wild boars, but above all of many uncommon birds, such as the stone curlew, which lays its eggs on the ground and camouflages itself in the gray-green of the sand, gravel and occasional, sporadic vegetation.

How to visit the Magredi

The Magredi are an extremely versatile area and accessible to everyone to visit. There are hiking trails, mountain bike trails and itineraries to tackle on horseback.

For a short walk, the ideal place is the so-called Biotope of San Quirino , near the town of the same name. You enter the Magredi del Cellina Community Interest Site and you can venture out to discover all three different bands: at the beginning you encounter meadows and cultivated fields, to then gradually find increasingly arid and barren land, decorated here and there with colorful flowers. You only hear a great silence all around, and your gaze gets lost towards the imposing mountains on the horizon.

For lovers of two wheels, the area is crossed by the so-called Anello dei Magredi , a circular route of about 42 kilometers that passes through Vivaro and San Foca, in the heart of the Friulian steppes, and then reaches Maniago . It is a simple route, with a very minimal difference in altitude uphill, and it offers the possibility of exploring the entire territory of the area far and wide.

The Vinchiaruzzo Springs

If the Magredi make the poverty of water their strength, a little further south the Risorgive del Vinchiaruzzo are the exact opposite: in the low plain south-east of the town of Cordenons the waters of the mountain basins resurface and are hidden by the Magredi. Here the soil is clayey, and therefore does not allow the water to penetrate into the depths of the earth, bringing it instead to the surface.

The water that flows from the ground accumulates in springs, called olle, giving life to small circular ponds and canals, in an area where nature is lush and greenery abounds: willows characterize the immediate vicinity of the banks, together with poplars. Various paths wind through the area, allowing the visitor to explore every corner of this niche of Friuli.

The contrast between the Magredi area and the Vinchiaruzzo Resurgences is impressive, but it is easy to understand how the two contexts are twins, inseparable from each other. An ideal route is in fact to start from the exploration of the Magredi north of Cordenons and arrive, on foot or by bicycle, in the Resurgences area, exploring how nature can live on apparent contradictions.

Cordenons and the Noncello

Discovering the Magredi and the Risorgive is, all in all, a great aquatic adventure: from the sudden absence of water you start and to total wealth you arrive. Everything revolves around a single center of gravity, which is the town of Cordenons , at the gates of Pordenone.

The two places share the etymological origin of the name: Pordenone derives from portus naonis, the port of the river Naone, while Cordenons from curtis naonis , the court on the river Naone.

Naone is the ancient name of the Noncello , a short river with a course of just eleven kilometers, but whose navigability in ancient times had put both Pordenone and Cordenons on the map.

To complete a water-themed visit to the Magredi area, you cannot miss a visit to this spring watercourse, with a walk along the banks of the river that starts from the city center of Cordenons and reaches the Noncello River Park in the center of Pordenone.

If in ancient times Cordenons had a greater importance than the current provincial capital, the roles were reversed starting from the sixteenth century. Relatively isolated between the area of ​​the lean lands and the course of the Noncello, Cordenons has preserved traditions of which it is proud, such as a dialect of Friulian origin different from that of Pordenone, clearly of Venetian influence.

The town of Cordenons is worth a visit to discover Villa Badini Pasqualini , a classic example of an eighteenth-century Venetian villa among the most important in the area, and the works of art housed in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore, also dating back to the eighteenth century.