It is difficult to find complete and reliable information about small non-tourist towns in Italy on the Russian-language Internet. I read about Udine that it is the capital of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. In fact, it is the center of one of the regional provinces, and the capital of the region is Trieste. In another article, the author referred to Udine as «a magnificent resort favored by tourists». In fact, to call Udine a resort can only be called a resort by a person who has not been to Italy at all, and to resorts as well. The third source called Udine one of the most important cities in Italy — this is very flattering, but it is not true.
I don’t want to support myths and I won’t sing an ode to this small town, but show you Udine as it is.
Udine itself is home to just over a hundred thousand people, a small city by Italian standards. Like the whole of the north-east of Italy, Udine is often called «not quite Italian». It appeared in the 10th century, and people have lived here since the prehistoric era, from about the 15th century BC. The historical region in which the city is located is called Friuli, after the name of the people who still inhabit it. Friulians have their own national and cultural identity, their own cuisine and even their own language: all inscriptions in the city are duplicated in Friulian, here it is officially taught and protected. The city has a typical Northern Italian appearance, with Venetian palaces and cobblestone streets.
Udine is surrounded by wine making (2.5% of all Italian wine is produced here), the Alps begin to the north of the city, and the Adriatic Sea and Trieste are just an hour’s drive to the south. You can visit Udine for the day from Venice, Trieste, Slovenia or Austria. Let me tell you how to spend a day or two and what to see.
The city walls of Udine
It is a landmark that has hardly survived, but the outlines and remains of the city walls you will find all over the city. Throughout Udine’s history, its city walls have had 5 contours — the city grew, and the fortifications were added after it.
- The first walls surrounded the castle on the hill. They have not survived to our time, but both the walls and the gates in them became the basis for the next layers of the city’s history.
- The second circle annexed the lower core of the city and captures the main part of the historic center of Udine. These walls protected the city from the twelfth to the thirteenth century.
- The third circle was completed by the end of the 13th century. It included the present cathedral, and from this ring remained the «New Gate» — Porta Nuova (or Arco Grimani), which was moved to the castle in the twentieth century, and the gate of San Bartolomeo (or Porta Manin, Porta Manin), which still stands in its place.
- The fourth circle by the end of the fourteenth century included the territories of the ancient villages — borgo Poscolle (up to Piazza XXVI Luglio) and borgo Grazzano (up to Piazza Cella).
- The fifth circle, completed at the end of the 15th century, is clearly visible on the map — it coincides with the current ring road around the center of Udine. The walls and most of the gates have not survived, except for the modern Aquileia gate (porta Aquileia) and the Villalta gate (porta Villalta).
Piazza Libertà.
Liberty Square is the ancient heart of the city, the oldest square. It is now surrounded by the most beautiful buildings of Udine:
- Loggia del Lionello — built in the 15th century for the city council, in Venetian Gothic style.
- Opposite is the clock tower (Torre dell’Orologio), modeled after the tower in Piazza San Marco in Venice, and the Renaissance Loggia San Giovanni with its portico and chapel. The chapel is dedicated to all those who fell in the battles for Italy.
- To the left of the Loggia di San Giovanni is the Arch of Bollani by the famous architect Andrea Palladio, which leads directly to the city castle. This arch was supposedly built on the site of one of the gates of the first ring of the city walls.
- Between the Loggia Lionello and the Arch of Bollani is a peace monument erected in the early 19th century.
Via Mercatovecchio, or Old Market, runs up the hill to Piazza Liberta. In the center of this street, don’t miss the Palazzo del Monte di Pietà, a building with a beautiful facade that has been occupied by the Cassa di Risparmio bank since the late 19th century. It took almost a hundred years to build (from the end of the sixteenth century to the end of the seventeenth century).
The bank preserves furniture and interiors of the XVIII century and outside the pandemic there are free guided tours. Without a tour, without entering the building, you can see the masterpiece baroque chapel of the Virgin Mary (cappella di Santa Maria) with a marble altar and frescoes. The door is closed, but you can see through the glass.
Castello di Udine (Udine Castle)
Just after the Arch of Bollani by Andrea Palladio, the climb up to the castle is short and uncomplicated. The Lippomano Portico, which protects visitors on foot from rain and heat, was built at the end of the 15th century along the line of the first fortress wall.
At the top, the climb ends with the church of Santa Maria di Castello, the oldest church in the city, with traces of its history dating back to the 8th century and the Langobard period. Its bell tower is believed to have served as a defense tower of the first ring of walls. The church received its present-day appearance in Romanesque style in the 12th century. A small building from the 15th century was added to the church — it was the only building that survived the earthquake of 1511, and during the renovation of the castle, the city parliament met here.
The castle stands on a low hill about 140 meters high. According to legend, in the 5th century Atilla, leader of the Huns, ordered his soldiers to build this hill so that he could see Aquileia, the ancient Roman city and city of the patriarchs of Aquileia, which traces its history back to Mark the Evangelist. Ironically, it was the patriarchs of Aquileia who built their residence on this hill in the ninth century.
The modern castle building was built in the XVI century after a strong earthquake. The castle is now home to several city museums.
- Entrance to the castle is 8 €, to the Ethnographic Museum 5 €.
- Free admission: on Easter Monday, International Museum Day (May), Republic Day (June 2).
- Museums website
Cathedral of Udine (Cattedrale di Udine)
The main church of the city began to be built in the XIII century, when Udine became an important religious center — the patriarchs of Aquileia moved here. The church was built and rebuilt until the XVII century, and in the early twentieth century they tried to restore the facade to its original appearance. Today it is a mixture of Gothic and Romanesque styles on the facade and Baroque in the interior.
- The Cathedral is open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 6:45 p.m., and until 8:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
- The museum is open Monday through Saturday, except Tuesdays: from 10:00 to 12:00 and from 16:00 to 18:00. Sundays — from 16:00 to 18:00. Tuesday is a day off.
- Cathedral website
- Detailed description of the architecture and interior in Italian
L’Oratorio della Purità (L’Oratorio della Purità)
On the side of the cathedral attached another church, smaller — it was built in the XVII century on the site of the theater: the patriarch disapproved of worldly entertainment, bought the theater and converted it into a church and a school for girls.
The artist Giambattista Tiepolo, who had already designed frescoes in the Cathedral and the Patriarchal Palace, and his son Giandomenico were invited to paint the interior. The main fresco of the church is on the ceiling — it is the Ascension of the Virgin Mary, a very luminous and beautiful painting, one of the main masterpieces of the master and of Udine. And the monochrome, incredibly photographic frescoes are done by his son, Giandomenico.
- The church is open on Sundays from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., other days from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. daily except Tuesdays. Tuesday is a day off.
- Detailed description of the interior in Italian
Archbishop’s Palace (Palazzo Arcivescovile-Patriarcale)
This landmark doesn’t catch the eye from the street — you need to know about it in advance, because the unremarkable church with its baroque facade is easy to pass by.
And the church is just an introduction to the city’s main treasury, the Palace of the Patriarch, or Archbishop. The patriarchs of Aquileia were not just the religious «first persons» of the region. From the eleventh to the early fifteenth century, the patriarchs had secular power in the region — they were the rulers of Friuli.
In the XV century the Venetians kicked the patriarchs out of the castle, and after wandering through the palaces of the local nobility, a hundred years later another patriarch decided to finally build the first patriarchal palace in the city. The palazzo was subsequently rebuilt and remodeled until in the XVIII century it received its present appearance.
Since 1995, the palace has been home to the magnificent Diocesan Museum of Church Art. It is famous primarily for the Galleries of Tiepolo, and its walls were decorated by Giambattista Tiepolo in his early years (in his later years he painted the Oratory della Purita).
You can spend half a day in the palace. With exhibitions of wooden sculptures, jewelry, paintings and an early 18th century wooden library, there’s plenty to see.
- Admission is 8 €.
- Working hours: Monday through Sunday from 10:00 to 13:00, from 15:00 to 18:00. The day off is Tuesday. The museum is not open on Christmas Day, January 1 and Easter.
- Reservations are required during the pandemic.
- Museum website
- Guide to the museum in Italian
Church of St. Francis (Chiesa di San Francesco)
One of the oldest religious buildings in Udine is now desacralized and used for temporary exhibitions, and was once the main residence of the Franciscan friars in Udine and Friuli.
The church was built in the 13th century in Romanesque style, with early pointed arches and a rosette window. Later the monks gave it together with the monastery to house a hospital. And during World War II, the church was badly damaged by bombing. The neighborhood is still called «Largo Ospedale Vecchio» (old hospital).
Fragments of frescoes from the XIII–XV centuries have been preserved in the church. You can only get inside during exhibitions. And the former monastery-hospital is now home to the Tribunal of Udine.
Piazza Matteotti and the Church of San Giacomo (Chiesa di San Giacomo)
The former New Market, now Piazza Matteotti, is better known as Piazza San Giacomo, after the church that has stood there since the 15th century. The church was built by a brotherhood of local tanners on the site where criminals used to be executed. From the balcony for almost two centuries (XIV–XV centuries) on Saturdays served mass for market workers — so they could pray without leaving the workplace. True, it did not help to make them more righteous: the masses were stopped because no one paid attention to them. On the same balcony, the patriarchs of Aquileia, who had gained feudal power in Udine, spoke to their people.
For the market, the first public clock in Udine was also set up on the façade of the church.
Next to the church is the Chapel of the Souls (cappella delle Anime). It was built in the seventeenth century, but its design echoes the façade of San Giacomo.
- The church is open Mon through Fri from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. On Saturdays, it is open from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. On Saturday afternoons and Sunday afternoons the church is open during worship services.
- Schedule website
Piazza Matteotti is the oldest square in the city after Piazza Liberta. It appeared in the 13th century together with the second circle of the walls of Udine and was first called Mercatonuovo — «new market» or «herb square» (Piazza delle Erbe). The column with the Madonna dates from the 15th century and the fountain from the 16th century. Today the square is named in honor of Giacomo Matteotti — the assassination of this Italian socialist by the Fascists in 1924 began Mussolini’s dictatorship.
This square is the current center of the historic core. Piazza Matteotti is surrounded by bars, they are literally in every house around the square, and where there are bars, there is life in Italian cities. From early morning coffee to late dinner, the bars in Piazza Matteotti are packed with visitors, and streets and alleys with restaurants branch off to the sides. A cup of coffee or a glass of aperitivo in the square is a mast, but lunch is better in the neighboring streets.
Parrocchia di S. Nicolo Vescovo al Tempio Ossario (Parrocchia di S. Nicolo Vescovo al Tempio Ossario)
The huge green dome of this building is visible from everywhere. The temple on the former Borgo Poscolle was built between the two world wars to house the remains of 25,000 Italian soldiers who died during the First World War. The monumental and massive building is reminiscent of Renaissance architecture and emphasizes the scale and bloodshed of the fighting in this part of Italy.
Where to stay in Udine
I recommend coming to Udine for 2—3 days. One day should be spent on Udine itself, make sure to visit the Patriarchal Palace, go to the neighboring Cividale del Friuli, and if there is time left — to see the local Carnian Alps.
I recommend staying in the center, inside the city ring road. From the point of view of tourist routes, the most convenient location is between Piazza Matteotti and the train station.
Prices for hotels in Udine are quite affordable.
- In the very center of the city, in a 4* Ambassador Palace Hotel or Astoria Hotel Italia a room for two with breakfast will cost from 90 €.
- A 3* hotel near the station, such as Hotel Principe, will cost 60 € for two people — convenient if you plan to arrive in Udine by train.
- A room in a Bed & Breakfast will cost from 50 €.
