Palcoda

Pàlcoda is a locality in the comune of Tramonti di Sotto, in the province of Pordenone (628 m above sea level). It is a striking abandoned village in the Carnic Prealps, in the upper valley of the Chiarzò stream, and can only be reached on trails starting from Tramonti di Sotto and Campone.

Visited by passing shepherds as early as the 1400s, it was only permanently inhabited from the 17th century, mainly thanks to the Moruzzi and Masutti families; the Masutti were always the most influential and wealthy family in the village. In the 18th century Pàlcoda became a real village: alongside traditional farming and herding (especially goats) came other trades such as straw hats, sold even in the markets of northern Europe; there were also two kilns, one particularly powerful, and a mill. In 1780 Giacomo Masutti also built a church dedicated to his patron saint, which held several works of art such as three statues of saints, now in the parish church of Tramonti di Sotto.

The number of inhabitants (called Palcodans in the local dialect) hovered around a hundred, peaking at a hundred and fifty.

In 1914 Pàlcoda still had 126 residents, but the crisis that followed the Great War hit the Friulian mountains particularly hard and increased emigration. The village was completely abandoned when the last of the Masutti left in 1923.

During the Second World War it became a refuge for partisans, who took advantage of how hard it was to reach.

Text: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · translated from Italian