What is Sesto al Reghena known for?

The fortified Benedictine complex of Santa Maria in Sylvis houses the commune offices, the only Italian comune headquartered inside an abbey. Eighth-century Greek marble urn in the crypt, carved by the same Cividale workshop that produced the Tempietto Longobardo's stucco saints. Hungarian horsemen sacked the abbey in 899; the surrounding moat, gate-tower, and inner walls date from the tenth-century rebuild.

Where is Sesto al Reghena?

Sesto al Reghena is a comune in the province of Pordenone, Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, about 48 kilometers from Udine.

Friuli-Venezia Giulia · Pordenone

Sesto al Reghena

A 730s Benedictine abbey on the Reghena, ravaged by Magyars in 899, refortified in the tenth century, and still the town hall today.

48 km / 30 mi

Nearest hub (Udine)

6,313

Population

Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Sesto al Reghena sitson the Friuli-Venetian plain, between the Tagliamento and the Reghena, a small river bordered by linden trees that runs through the centro. The name records the sixth Roman mile out of Concordia Sagittaria on the road to Iulia Augusta. The town is one place: the Abbazia di Santa Maria in Sylvis, founded by the Lombard nobles Erfo, Marco, and Anto between 730 and 735, occupied by Benedictines until 762, sacked by a Magyar raid in 899, and refortified with walls and a moat in the tenth century. The abbey crypt is supported by twenty columns, several of them Roman spolia. At the center stands the Urn of St. Anastasia, a single block of Greek marble carved by Cividale masters in the eighth century, with rose, cross, and arched motifs. The abbey complex is the current town hall, the only commune in Italy headquartered inside a fortified Benedictine monastery. In Friulian, the village is called Siest.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Sesto al Reghena fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

Gallery

4 photos · scroll →

Known for

Abbazia di Santa Maria in Sylvis
Eighth-century Benedictine abbey, refortified after the 899 Magyar sack, with a crypt of twenty columns and Carolingian-era frescoes; now the town hall.
Urna di Sant'Anastasia
Single block of Greek marble in the abbey crypt, carved by Cividale masters in the eighth century with roses, crosses, arches, and rosettes.
Torre Grimani
Surviving gate-tower of the medieval abbey defenses, named for the Venetian commendatory abbots who held the monastery in the sixteenth century.
Fiume Reghena
Slow spring-fed river running through the comune between hedges and linden banks, with a riverside walk from the abbey to the open countryside.
Borgo abbaziale
Walled enclosure of the abbey complex, with the abbot's residence, the foresteria, the courtyard, and the few houses that grew up inside the moat.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the months Sesto reads best. The Reghena banks are walkable, the abbey courtyard catches afternoon sun, and the Lison-Pramaggiore vineyards south of town are in their working seasons. July and August push past thirty-three degrees with the heavy humidity of the lower Friulian plain, and the abbey's crypt becomes the coolest room in the comune. September brings the Festa dei Saperi e dei Sapori, with abbey-produced honey, herbs, and grappa in the courtyard. November through March is quiet and foggy. The fortified abbey rising out of the November mist along the Reghena is the photograph the village actually has.