In addition to the undisputed beauty of the landscape, the Stretta di Pinzano combines features of national scientific interest. This is why it is included among the geological sites of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region. Going up the Tagliamento, one encounters the first rocky buttress dating from the pre-Quaternary period, at the Stretta di Pinzano, carved into the Miocene conglomerates. The best place to observe it is from the riverbed, either from Pontaiba upstream or from Casa della Barca downstream: in both cases the riverbed expands to a considerable width. Near the Stretta, the Tagliamento always has water, even in periods of low water.
Curiously enough, it was the waters of the Arzino and not those of the Tagliamento that shaped this site, for over five million years. Only fifteen thousand years ago, from Cimano the Tagliamento began to flow towards the south-west and the Arzino became a tributary.
The historical value of this passage is also remarkable, as it was the main ford along the Roman road that led from Concordia Sagittaria to Gemona, where the Via Iulia Augusta was taken. For centuries, before the bridge was built, the Stretta, which is about one hundred and fifty metres long, was crossed on board a ferry, a sort of barge pushed by poles. Goods, animals and people passed from one side to the other. On arrival in Pinzano, there was a point of duty also used as a resting place, the “Casa della barca“, where one could wait for the right moment to cross the river. A path recently reopened thanks to the efforts of local volunteers passes through here.
