UdineSights

Sights in Udine

  1. A

    Oratorio della Purità

    The Oratorio della Purità has a beautiful ceiling painting of the Assumption by Giambattista Tiepolo, and eight biblical scenes in chiaroscuro by Giandomenico Tiepolo on the walls. The building had been raised as a theatre in 1680 but the patriarch of Aquileia had it transformed 80 years later out of repugnance for such a devilish institution so close to Udine's 13th-century cathedral. Ask in the cathedral for a guided tour (free) of the oratory, which is otherwise generally not open.

    reviewed

  2. B

    Galleria d’Arte Antica

    The Galleria d’Arte Antica has a handful of works by Caravaggio (there is a portrait of St Francis in room 7), Carpaccio (with a work showing the adoration of Christ’s blood in room 3) and Tiepolo (several works in room 10). The bulk of the collection is dedicated to lesser-known Friulian painters and religious sculpture.

    reviewed

  3. C

    Arco Bollani

    The Arco Bollani, next to the Loggia di San Giovanni, was designed by Andrea Palladio in 1556 and leads up to the castle used by the Venetian governors. The way is lined by the Porticato del Lippomano, a late-15th century portico raised along the length of one of the city's former defensive walls.

    reviewed

  4. D

    Galleria d’Arte Moderna

    The Modern Art Gallery was established in 1885 after a rich Udinese merchant left his estate to the city. Since then, the gallery has absorbed other collections as well. It features works by well-known 20th-century Italian artists, such as De Chirico, Severini and Morandi.

    reviewed

  5. E

    Loggia di San Giovanni

    A clear reminder of Venetian influence along with the Palazzo del Comune is the Loggia di San Giovanni opposite, which features a clock tower modelled, albeit in squatter format, on the one gracing Venice's Piazza San Marco. As in Venice, Moorish figures strike the hours.

    reviewed

  6. Palazzo del Comune

    Udine's Renaissance heart beats in Piazza della Libertà. The 15th-century Palazzo del Comune, also known as the Loggia del Lionello after its architect (a goldsmith by the name of Nicolò Lionello), is a clear reminder of Venetian influence.

    reviewed

  7. F

    Museo del Duomo

    Housed in a couple of chapels is the Museo del Duomo, among whose most interesting elements are the 13th- to 17th-century frescoes in the Cappella di San Nicolò.

    reviewed

  8. G

    Chiesa di San Francesco

    The 13th-century Chiesa di San Francesco was once one of Udine’s most striking churches. It is now used as a gallery and is open only during exhibitions.

    reviewed

  9. H

    Museo Archeologico

    Admission to the Galleria d'Arte Antica includes a visit to the Museo Archeologico, also in the castle, with objects dating as far back as the Iron Age.

    reviewed

  10. I

    Cathedral

    Heading south from Piazza della Libertà down Via Vittorio Veneto, you reach Piazza del Duomo and Udine's 13th-century Romanesque-Gothic cathedral.

    reviewed

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  12. Villa Manin

    Contemporary-art lovers will appreciate the exhibitions at Villa Manin, a villa in Passariano, 30km southwest of Udine. Home to the Venetian noble Manin family from the 1600s until as late as the 1990s (when the last count died heirless), which included the last of Venice’s doges, the vast mansion is surrounded by 19 hectares of manicured gardens. Napoleon Bonaparte humiliated Doge Ludovico Manin by turning the mansion into his headquarters in mid-1797 and, in October, signing the Treaty of Campoformido, under which Venice passed to Habsburg Austria. Alight from a train on the Venice–Udine line at Codroipo and take a taxi (or, if you have the patience, one of the few SAF …

    reviewed

  13. J