The name "Farra" is of Lombard origin, and derives from "Fara", meaning "a stronghold held by individual families or clans".

The Romans later had a "statio"—or courier relay point—here, near which they built a bulky bridge on the Isonzo River in a place called Mainizza to improve communications with the eastern territories.

It was on this strategic bridge that the Goths, the Ostrogoths, the Lombards, the Avari, the Huns, the Hungarians and the Turks would later pass to invade the empire.

The old agricultural features of the landscape can still be seen in the urban layout of the locality, that includes numerous villages and the two smaller towns of Mainizza and Villanova.

An intense and lively cultural life has developed here, and there are numerous institutions like the centre dedicated the poet Riccardo Pitteri, who wrote about this country and chose it as a summer resort.