Palmanova
Palmanova is a Renaissance city in northeastern Italy not far from the Slovenia border. My wife wanted to see the city and visit the outlet mall to see how the prices are. It is a very interesting city and a UNESCO world heritage site.
In the late 1500s, the Venetians built the city as a fortress against the Ottomans and it was built in the shape of a nine-pointed star. Once inside the city there are rings now street that take you all the way around the star until you get to a large huge city square where the church is and several coffee bars. It seems to be a popular stop for bicyclists on Sunday when we were having coffee all most every there in the coffee shop had ridden there on their bicycle from somewhere
The weekend we went there had been a concert in the square the night before and it looked like it was quite large with all the chair being taken down and the stage and kiosk for beer and wine. The town seemed dead and we were told everyone is still asleep, but I have the feeling that like many tourist destinations in Europe now, not as many people live in the town as used to.
The city was supposed to be Utopia, built after the ideas of an ideal city in the book by Thomas Moore. The cathedral was started in 1603 but not finished and consecrated until the late 1700s.
There originally was a moat that surrounded the town now it is dry, and the city gates allow entrance. Today a light control which direction cars flow either in or out of the city gates. In the early 1800s, Napoleon added some fortifications to the city taking it to its final form. Then city because under Hapsburg rule in until annexed back to Italy in 1866.
It is a delight to walk through the city. You can see pretty much everything in an afternoon so I would not play to spend more than one or two days there. There is a grocery store within the fortification, a lovely little wine shop, SFriso that specializes in the wines of the region and a few restaurants. We had dinner at Pizzeria Albambero and had pizza and pasta both were very good. You can also buy carafe of local wines that are nice. Our Air BNB was nice we had a great patio, but the power would keep going off tripping the breaker, so we had to learn how to flip that back on. The apartment came with breakfast at the coffee shop on the main square which whch included coffee and pastires.
I would not go to Palmanova for the outlet mall but if in the area or if planning to drive into Slovenia for Ana Roš and Hiša Franko one of the 50 best restaurant in the world it is an Italian city worth a visit.