Matajur / Montemaggiore - Monte Mataiur/Matajur (over saddle)

Access to the starting point:
a) On the Italian side:
From Goriško direction, take the regional road towards Udine to the exit for Krmin / Cormons.
At the roundabout at the first exit turn towards Krmin/Cormons and Chedad/Cividale and go under the underpass and then immediately turn left. At the large and awkward junction in Cormons, turn right towards Chedad / Cividale del Friuli. We continue driving through several towns on the carefully cultivated Friulian plain, from where, in good visibility, our destination of Matajur, on the flank of Krno, initially appears on our right, but from Chedad straight ahead. In Chedad, we arrive at a semaphore-lit crossroads next to a building that houses first a pharmacy and then a bank. Take a sharp right at the junction (straight ahead is the entrance to the old part of the town and a large free parking lot). The famous Devil's Bridge is only a few minutes' walk away.
Continue to a small roundabout, in front of which there are several direction signs, including a brown sign for Kolovrat. From here, follow the signs for Kolovrat. Follow the river Nadija towards Speter Slovenov / San Pietro al Natisone. Approximately 1 km before Speter, you will reach a crossroads at Ponte San Quirino. Turn right here (straight Speter) and left over the bridge to Chedad on the other bank of the river Nadija, which is the route from Chedad that you can find on Google Maps. Continue following the signs for Kolovrat, but only for about 1. 5 km, where the road for Kolovrat and the former border crossing Solarij / Solarie branches off to the right. We continue straight on to the larger town of Sauodnja / Savogna, also the centre of the municipality of the same name. Here we turn right over a bridge and continue along the main road. You could also go left up after the bridge, but the road is very steep and narrow. On the bridge you can also see the red signs for Rifugio Pelizzo. The path soon starts to climb serpentinely (approx. 3 km and 6 sharp bends). At the top, you reach the next turn-off, where you turn left towards the village of Matajur/Montemaggiore and Rifugio Pelizzo. Straight ahead is the village of Cepletischis and about 6 km more to Livko. From the crossroads, Matajur is about 5. 5 km away on a moderately ascending dual carriageway and Rufugio Pelizzo is 9 km away.

b) On the Slovenian side:
From the Tolmin - Kobarid road, a steep dual carriageway turns left at Idrsko (right from Kobarid) towards the village of Livek (approx. 5 km). From here, continue along the narrower and narrower road into Itali. On the other side of the border the road starts to descend slightly, at the village of Polava the road widens again and climbs slightly towards the village of Cepletischische. From here you descend towards a crossroads (0. 5 km), where you continue to the right in the direction of the villages of Matajur / Montemaggiore and Rifugio Pelizzo. Straight on to Sauodnia / Savogna. From Livko to Matajur is about 10 km and to Rifugio Pelizzo 13 km.

Path description:
Park on the roadside above the village of Matajur. There is also a road closure in snow conditions. Mountain signs direct you right up past the weekend house towards Matajur and mountain pasture Gosnach. After a very short climb, cross the road where a mountain sign directs you straight through the forest towards Matajure and the Matajure Lodge. After a few steps, turn left and start the steep, then gentle climb towards mountain pasture Gosnach. The path runs partly through the forest and partly across grassy slopes, from which we can already see beautiful views of the sea. Below a large white farmhouse on your right, the forest thins out completely. Soon we reach the abandoned Rifugio Gosnach, from where, in fine weather, the first views of the Dolomites open up. From here, the path begins to climb steadily up the south-western grassy slopes of the Matajur. All the time we can see the Dom na Matajure and the summit of Matajur in front of us. After a good hour's walk, we reach the start of the mountain pasture / Malge di Mersino, which offers a magnificent view from Dolomites to the Kanin mountains. From the right side, the path from Rifugio Pelizzo joins at this point (30 min).

Continue walking along the cart track, which leads towards the houses you can see in front of you. The path climbs moderately below the western slopes of Matajur. Above the huts, cart track is laid down again and leads in a few minutes to the next group of stone huts by the artificial lake.

At the mountain pasture by the lake, continue straight on the cart track, which climbs moderately towards the saddle below the north-western slopes of Matajur. The saddle is reached after a gentle climb of 15 minutes. In ideal weather conditions, the whole route is accompanied by magnificent views from Dolomites to the Kanin Mountains and Rombon. At the saddle, the horizon widens to the mighty Krn and the Tolmin and Lower Bohinj mountains.

The saddle is also reached by a path under the northern slopes of Matajur, which is reached by following the route from Avsa (instead of taking the Veneška path, continue straight on under the northern slopes of Matajur in the route Sedlo-Mersinska direction).

From the saddle, a short but relatively steep climb up the northern ridge to the summit of Matajurj begins, which can be reached in about 20 minutes. In snowy conditions, this part of the route requires a lot of caution and the right equipment. The slopes are often frostbitten and can also be very steep. Due to the steepness, the use of snowshoes is not possible. The trail crosses steep slopes and there is a high risk of slipping.
However, in terrestrial conditions, the path is easy and very suitable, especially on hot days.
Unlike other approaches to Matajur, the church on the summit is only visible a few steps below the summit.

From the top of Matajur, you can walk to the village of Matajur or Rifugio Pelizzo:
- straight down the former ski slope to Rifugio Pelizzo and continue along the road to the village of Matajur,
- along the western ridge to the Matajure Lodge and from there:
- left to Rifugio Pelizzo,
- right to the small lake on the Marsina mountain pasture and on to the Rifugio Pelizzo or to the village of Matajur,
- straight down to Marsina mountain pasture and on to Rifugio Pelizzo or to the village of Matajur,
- along the eastern ridge (Venetian route), where at the end of the ridge, instead of heading towards Livko, turn right in the direction of Masseris, Cepletischis, Rifugio, then the path leads to cart track (the old route from Livko). After a few metres, a signpost points to the right towards Rifugio Pelizzo. The path continues, first over mountain pasture and then descends through the forest. Exit the forest at the house below the observatory. If you have a car at Rifugio Pelizzo, you have to climb slightly uphill, otherwise go down the grassy slope towards the road behind the village of Matajur.

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