Udine

Gallery

Udine’s modern and contemporary hub brings together a number of bequests, creating a substantial collection of 20th-century Italian artists, including De Chirico, Morandi, Campigli and Mušič. There’s also a surprise stash of notable 20th-century American work, including by Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt and Carl Andre, which were donated by the artists after the 1976 Friulian earthquake. The gallery itself is a beautiful cultural asset, its bold reconstruction designed by the late Gae Aulenti.

Piazza

A shimmering Renaissance epiphany materialising from the surrounding maze of medieval streets, Piazza della Libertà is dubbed the most beautiful Venetian square on the mainland. The arched Palazzo del Comune is a clear Venetian keepsake, as is the Loggia di San Giovanni opposite, its clock tower modelled on the one gracing Venice's Piazza San Marco. The Arco Bollani, next to the Loggia, is an Andrea Palladio work from 1556; it leads up to the castle once used by Venetian governors.

Church

This intimate oratory has a dramatic ceiling painting of the Assumption by Giambattista Tiepolo, with a glowing Madonna framed by tumbling, rather mischievous looking cherubs. It's a wondrous work. Eight biblical scenes in far more sombre chiaroscuro on the walls are by his son, Giandomenico. The building opened as a theatre in 1680 but the patriarch of Aquileia ordered its transformation 80 years later, repulsed that such a devilish institution existed so close to a cathedral.

Museum

Rebuilt in the mid-16th century after an earthquake in 1511, Udine's castle affords rare views of the city and snowy peaks beyond. It houses a number of different collections, all fascinating. The Museo del Risorgimento is both compellingly designed and set in a series of beautiful rooms, while the Museo Archeologico highlights both locally found objects as well as the region's archaeological heyday of the late 19th century.

Museum

This 13-room gallery showcases the work of local and Venetian artists from the end of the 14th- to the early 19th-century. There are a handful of important canvases here, a reproduction of Caravaggio's portrait of St Francis in room 7, Carpaccio's adoration of Christ’s blood in room 3 and a room full of Tiepolo's (room 10). Parts of the museum are currently closed for renovation.

Gate

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.

Palace

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.

Tower

A clear reminder of Venetian influence is the Loggia di San Giovanni, 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.

Gallery

The drawcards here are the two rooms featuring early frescoes by Giambattista Tiepolo, including the wonderfully over-the-top Expulsion of the Rebellious Angels (1726) at the apex of a grand staircase.