Palmanova, the star-shaped city, part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 2017, is a city of foundation, with a precise date of birth: October 7, 1593.

This date was chosen to honor two important events in the history of the Republic of Venice: the feast of Santa Giustina, later patron of the new city, and the anniversary of the victory of Lepanto over the Turks on October 7, 1571. 

The Serenissima indeed wanted to send an unequivocal message about the function of the new fortress as a barrier to Ottoman invasions.

Palmanova remained for more than two hundred years under the rule of the Serenissima (1593-1797), until General Bonaparte conquered it. After the Treaty of Campoformido, the fortress entered the orbit of the Austrian Empire (1798-1805), and was later incorporated, following conquest, into the Kingdom of Italy (1806-1814).

After the fall of Napoleon, Palmanova became part of the heterogeneous Austrian Empire until 1866, with the only exception being the insurrection of 1848.

With the plebiscite of 1866, Palmanova was definitively united with the Kingdom of Italy. Almost a hundred years later, in 1960, the President of the Republic decreed Palmanova as a “National Monument”.