The name
Curtis de Vado is the Latin name which means " corte" – the large agricultural complex- placed near a ford on Tagliamento river ( exactly on the one of the river's branches).

History
&9632;In the 2nd century B.C., the ancient Roman presence coincided with the foundation of Aquileia. Romans reclaimed swamps and morasses that were covering the whole area.
Before them, in that zone there were Celts that came from the Carnian Alps.
They left as the heritage, rituals of purifying fires and their language to the Friulian parlance.
■In the 5th century the Roman Empire collapsed, and the valleys were full of barbarians; the Friuli region was conquered by Visigoths in 402, then by Ostrogoths in 408 and by Huns in 452.
Roman cities of Aquileia and Concordia were set on fire and there was death and destruction everywhere.
■From 568 to 749 The Longobardian dominion left deep marks on the local culture and among them, especially, the name of "Friuli".
■From 794 to 954 the feudal system under the Franc dominion was established.
Under the Carolingian Empire , the patriarchate gained power, and, until the 12th and 13th century, bishops became the most important people in political, administrative and economic life of the region.
■In 1186 the city of Cordovado was mentioned for the first time in a note issued by Urbano III ,where all church possessions of that period were listed.
■In 1276 the first explicit mention of the castle built by bishops of Concordia, was made.
■In 1337 as it was written in the local communal statute, the castle complex was described as the place already safe for bishops, and it was periodically used as a sort of military and political capital.
■In 1420 Cordovano passed under Venetian dominion: after centuries of violence and bloody wars, a period or relative peace and security started, apart the plague that in 1454 reduced the city to a cemetery. Droughts, locust invasions, Turkish incursions (1499), famine, cold weather, wolves, earthquakes and floods caused by Tagliamento river, often tormented local population.
■In 1797, with the arrival of Napoleon and the end of the Republic of Venice, the village of Cordovado became a municipality.
■In 1817 was the year of famine due to a destruction of harvest caused by floods and hailstorms.
&9632;In 1886, thanks to engineer Francesco Cecchini, the mayor and benefactor, Cordovado got the railway station on Portogruaro-Casarsa line.


The symbols of time in the village-castle
The actual fortified area of Cordovado, also known as the Castle(the 11th century) is the result of modifications and stratifications carried out during a long period of time, but particularly between the 7th and 19th century.
In the beginning of the Middle Ages, the external chain of walls with rampart, fosse and two towers (still present today), was enclosing an internal space, composed by Episcopal castle, with its own walls, fosse with lift bridge, mastio( a particular kind of fortification) and some other buildings.
Near the castle, there was the village.
The medieval Cordovado is situated in the area of the castle.
Inside, there were some interesting buildings such as Ridolfi Palace; Bozza Marrubini Palace ,an antique captain's house which interior was frescoed by Francesco Zimolo (1704-1712); the elegant Agricola Palace with its large arches and triforas (particular windows divided in three parts) so typical for Renaissance style.
Inside the wall chain, there is Freschi Piccolomini Palace (1669-1704) previously called Attimis, an impressive construction with some typical Renaissance style lines.
It has three floors with a big gateway , immersed into the beautiful, old green park.
Near the northern gateway, there is Saint Girolamo church ( 14th century).
The southern tower has a small secret gateway called " postierla" and the northern one (also called "the Clock Tower") inside has staircases and passages made of wood.
Along south-eastern walls there are some remains of fosse and houses built inside of this area in the 19th century.
At the end of the17th century a part of the fortress was demolished or transformed into urban residency.
It became Freschi Piccolomini Palace. The last known description of the Castle, was made by Concordia Bishops in 1856, few years before its complete demolishing.
Beccaris Nonis Palace appeared in the "new village" built in the 16th century.
Cecchini Palace , today's library, is the Francesco Cecchini's (1819-1897) legacy.
He was an engineer and philanthropist.
He also left to the community the building today used as the infant school.
During the restoration of some apse frescoes inside the antique Saint Andrew parish (the gateway is from 1477), there were also discovered things regarding their original author, Gianfrancesco of Tolmezzo, who painted them at the beginning of the 16th century.
The Madonna delle Grazie Sanctuary (1603) is a jewel of baroque art, octagonal shape with the beautifully carved ceiling gilded by Cataldo Ferrara (1656-58), ovals painted by Antonio Carneo representing figures of saints and prophets. You can finish your itinerary at the antique Franciscan Convent of Santa Maria di Campagna that became Villa Freschi and the Saint Catherine Oratory with its 15th century frescoes.

Local Products
The typical home-made sweet from Cordovado, has the name of Spaccafumo, who is a character from the book written by Ippolito Nievo.
It is made of dried figs, raisins, nuts, hazelnuts, pinolos, almonds, arancini and honey. Traditional local cookery is strongly linked to the land: duck, goose, pheasant, birds, wild herbs with polenta, bigoli ( typical local pasta), gnocchi with duck, goose "in umido".

Local dishes
Typical dishes of Friuli are "muset" and "brovada": cotechino (pork sausage) with white turnip garnish, covered by black grapes "vinaccia" (remains of wine processing) in hot water.