Built starting in the 11th century, around the original nucleus of the castle, after the latter had become the residence of the Counts of Gorizia, the village gradually expanded to accommodate the homes of nobles, feudal lords, members of the entourage, collaborators and servants.

Officially recognized in 1210 with the granting of market rights, it gradually took the form of a “residential fiefdom,” with houses overlooking the central artery, built close together and extending in depth.

Among these, the Rassauer House stands out, built in 1475, as the epigraph on the façade recalls, by Volfango Rassauer, a member of a family of Slovenian origin that died out in the mid-19th century. On the other side of the street are the Dornberg and Tasso houses, which, after becoming the home of the priest Giovanni Contavalle's Institute for Orphans in 1802, were connected in 1874 by the small church dedicated to Saint Joseph, commissioned by Countess Mathilde Coronini. Deconsecrated, it is now used as a conference room for the Provincial Museums, which house the two buildings.