Founded a few decades before Christ along the right bank of the Bût stream, a short distance from the Pass of Mount Croce Carnico and the border with Noricum, Zuglio derives its name from the Roman city of Iulium Carnicum, to which scholars attribute an important role in the trade between the Adriatic area and the north of the Alps. Today, of the ancient urban reality one can visit the Forum, which was the beating heart of the city, and it was excavated on several occasions since the 19th century and located a short distance from the Civic Archaeological Museum. The layout of the square – with the temple placed in the northern part and the civil basilica facing the southern side – faithfully reproduces the model of Caesar's Forum in Rome. From this area come the most significant artistic evidence of this settlement so far known, which fits into the best Roman bronze tradition of northern Italy.
Photography by Ulderica Da Pozzo
