Set amidst the far-reaching horizons of the Friulian plain and the natural amphitheaters of the Colli Orientali, at the edge of the Bosco Romagno, the Villa Romano-Rodaro rises on top of one of the most beautiful hills of the village of Spessa.

Surrounded by 35 hectares of estate vineyards, the 18th-century complex was purchased by the Rodaro family in 2002. Consisting of a central nucleus and two lateral wings, the real surprise of the residence is its lower storey, which boasts beautifully-preserved paintings by Jàcun Pitôr. 

Thanks to the Napoleonic land registry of 1830, it was possible to find out that it belonged to the Counts Romano, a noble family. The villa was sold to the Rodaros by Elizabeth, Count Antonio Romano's wife, as a mark of her esteem for the Rodaros’ centuries-long commitment to the development of the local Cividale community. 

The Villa preserves its enchanting exterior intact, where the harmonious interplay between the openings and the masonry recalls the Venetian architectural style of that era’s noble estates. Its state of perfect preservation is due to the sensitivity of Paolo and Lara Rodaro, who have succeeded in stewarding, with love, this cultural asset, thus adding even more lustre to the history of those who preceded them.      

In the early 1900s, the peripatetic naïf  artist Giacomo Meneghini  (1851-1935), known in Friuli as Jàcun Pitôr and in Slovenia as Jakob Malar, decorated with sacred and secular scenes the totality of the room that leads to the small private barrel cellar. Good-natured but rough-hewn in manners, the artist lived as a bohémien, sleeping in the hay barns and cadging food and shelter in exchange for paintings to those who hosted him. A popular humour imbued his works, expressed in sayings that were ironic and often wise, and still today often apropos. The room painted by Jàcun Pitôr at Villa Romano-Rodaro is the eloquent testimony to his stay here; in fact, protected against the sunlight, his paintings are perfectly preserved. 

The room and the small barrel cellar can be visited by reservation.