Living in Mortegliano: a plains town close to Udine

A town of 4,808 on the open plain south-west of Udine, 41 m above sea level. Its church bell tower, rises 113.2 m, was opened in 1959 and is described by the regional tourist board as the tallest in Italy. Its Friulian name is Mortean.

• Commuters to Udine: 18 min by car. There is no railway in town; the station used is Basiliano, a 13 min drive, with direct trains into Udine.
• Everyday needs: 2 supermarkets, 2 chemists, 2 primary schools and 1 lower secondary; for sixth-form age, pupils travel out.
• Winter light: nothing on the horizon blocks it. On 21 December the sun shines on the town hall for 8 h 38 min, 07:46 to 16:24.
• Getting away: Trieste airport 35 min, Venice airport 1 h 16; the sandy beach at Marina Julia 44 min; skiing at Tarvisio 1 h 15.

OMI (Osservatorio del Mercato Immobiliare, run by the Agenzia delle Entrate) splits the town into 3 zones; flats in average condition range from €650/m² to €1,200/m², unchanged over twelve months. Turnover is brisk: 3.1% of the housing stock sold in 2025, a rate beaten by only 7 municipalities of the 109 that OMI reports on.

Houses are roomy, 114 m² on average, and 84% of families own their home. Over half the buildings (56%) predate 1971. Second homes pay the regional property tax ILIA at 0.76%, the lowest standard rate any council in the region applies; one per owner, if registered with the council, pays 0.70% (how ILIA works). How a purchase works: our guide.

Palmanova hospital runs the closest emergency department, staffed around the clock and 20 min away by car. For the serious cases (cardiac, stroke, a bad road accident) crews drive to Udine's main hospital, only slightly further: 21 min. The regional helicopter base at Pasian di Prato lies 10 km north; the nearest hospital across a border is Šempeter pri Gorici in Slovenia, 42 min. Emergency number: 112 (drive times for every town).

• Flooding: in ISPRA's national hazard maps 63.9% of buildings fall in scenario P2, land that water could cover in a rare flood, expected once every 100–200 years; only 11 municipalities in the region have a higher share, Lestizza among them. P3, the frequent-flood scenario, covers 12% of the land. With a specific property, find out the floor level relative to the street and whether it has ever taken in water (floods and landslides). Landslides: none.
• Earthquakes: seismic zone 3, the lowest used in the region (it was zone 2 until 2010). The 1976 Friuli earthquake was felt here at 4-5 MCS, according to INGV (what to ask).
• Heat: summers are long, with 45 afternoons at 30 °C or above where the typical Friulian municipality has 37; 62 frosty nights and 1,210 mm of rain (climate, town by town).