A small jewel of Western Friuli, rich in history and monuments: the castle, the medieval village, the oldest Marian sanctuary of the diocese, a gem of Baroque art, the ancient parish church dating back to the 15th century, but also naturalistic areas that harmoniously fit into a fascinating itinerary.

A land of poetic inspiration for great writers such as Ippolito Nievo and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Home to the literary park “Ippolito Nievo”.

The area of Cordovado was inhabited in Roman times and perhaps earlier, but documented history begins in the Middle Ages, linked to the events of the large agricultural complex ("curtis") that extended near the ford on an ancient branch of the Tagliamento ("vadum").

The passage was crossed by an important road, which connected Portogruaro to the Austrian and German area. 

The Bishops of Concordia fortified the court around the 11th-12th century and chose Cordovado as their most important castle of the plain, a seat of numerous powers, civil, military, and ecclesiastical.

Remaining fully operational until the fifteenth century, after Friuli passed to Venice the manor lost its military function. 

In the meantime, the settlement prospered: in the area of the Pieve di Sant’Andrea there was the rural village, within the walls the village of those who had interests in the castle or were in the service of the lordship developed, and to the north grew the new village of merchants, notaries, landowners, and artisans.

These spaces expanded significantly after, in the early seventeenth century, the Santuario della Madonna was built near the place where in 1592 the Mother of God appeared to a woman. 

In the second decade of the eighteenth century, a convent of Padri Domenicani was added to the church, and they remained here until 1806.