Travel
Routes into German-speaking lands were commercial and cultural channels. Ideas could travel alongside merchandise.
The Alchemist's Ways · Piano d'Arta · Carnia
Casa Pianese
the heretic's house
In Piano d'Arta, a Friulian stop dedicated to Zuan della Guartanuta: a Carnic traveller, reader of Scripture and dissenting voice in the Europe of the Reformation.
Arta TermePiano d'ArtaCarniaReformationLiterary itinerary
Documented history
A man from the Carnic valleys before the Inquisition.
Historical sources remember Giovanni, or Zuan, della Guartanuta as a resident of Piano d'Arta who came into contact with Reformed churches in German-speaking lands. Direct reading and listening to the Bible fed an independent form of preaching that eventually drew the attention of religious authorities.
A profession of faith attributed to him survives in the archives of the Udine Inquisition. The ideas recorded there challenged religious practices and mediation of the period and show how quickly thoughts born beyond the Alps could reach the valleys of Carnia.
Casa Pianese enters the Alchemist's Ways as a place of memory for this story: a stop where the Friulian history of the Reformation meets the saga's narrative geography.
Ideas cross the Alps
Three passages. Travel, Scripture, dissent.
Zuan's story reveals a Carnia that was anything but isolated. Merchants and cramârs followed transalpine routes carrying goods, but also books, news, religious disputes and new ways of interpreting the world.
Scripture
According to the sources, Zuan developed part of his convictions through direct listening to and reading of the Bible.
Dissent
His preaching questioned rituals, indulgences and authority. The border between personal faith and heresy became thin and dangerous.
From history to fiction
When Isabella finds refuge in Carnia.
In the novel La Resa dei Conti nel Giardino della Serenissima, Casa Pianese is not mere scenery. Here Isabella Cortese finds refuge on a winter night.
The heretic's house becomes a crossing point between two forms of persecuted knowledge: Zuan's religious dissent and the alchemical knowledge guarded by Isabella. Two eras, two secrets, the same narrative roof.
The Friulian route
From Tambre to Carnia: the journey expands.
Tambre tells the story of alchemy through a real house in the Alpago. Piano d'Arta opens a second door, this time entirely Friulian, linked to the Reformation, the Inquisition and transalpine routes. Two different places, one narrative geography.
Valdenoghèr · Tambre
The Alchemist House: Athanor, symbols, Nigredo, Albedo and Rubedo.
Go to the Tambre stop →Piano d'Arta · Arta Terme
Casa Pianese: the Friulian stop dedicated to Zuan della Guartanuta and the memory of the Reformation in Carnia.
Find Arta on the narrative map →Historical references: University of Naples Federico II, Professione di fede di un predicatore riformato indipendente; Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, Tiere Furlane no. 28. The narrative attribution of Casa Pianese is kept distinct from the documented historical evidence about Zuan della Guartanuta.