| Municipality of Grado
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Pop.: 8,691
Area: 115,07 sq. km, 2 m a.s.l.
Neighbourhoods: Barbana, Boscat, Fossalon, Primero
Town Hall: Piazza B. Marin, 4 - 34073 Grado
Phone.: 0431. 898111 Fax: 0431. 85212
www.comune.grado.go.it
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Inhabited in Roman times and
probably functional to the port of
Aquileia (the word gradus indicated
a port of call), the place acquired
greater importance in the 5th century,
when, transformed into a fortress (castrum), it
became the shelter of the Aquileia
Archbishops during barbarian invasions.
Since the early 7th century it was the seat of
the Patriarchate, suppressed in 1451 in
favour of Venice. Renown since the late 1800s
as a seaside and marine treatment resort,
Grado is also a remarkable artistic centre. It
was thanks to the Aquileia Archbishops that
the magnificent Early-Christian monuments
were set as precious stones in the picturesque
Cittą Vecchia (Old City), which follows the
trapezoid area of the castrum keeping its road
plan partly intact (Calle Lunga and Calle
Porta Piccola correspond respectively
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to the
cardo and decumanus of the late-Roman
citadel). The typically Venetian street names
(campo, campiello, calle) are reminiscent of
the largely disappeared defensive structures:
Porta Grande, Porta Piccola, Porta Nova,
Palazzo, Torre. The Ravenna-style imposing
Duomo (Basilica of Sta. Eufemia) fronts
onto the central Campo dei Patriarchi: it was
consecrated in 579 by Patriarch Elias, who
completed a pre-existing structure built on the
site of a modest 4th-5th-century hall (tomb
mosaic of Petrus and hexagonal baptismal
font). In spite of the use of recycled materials
(Roman columns and capitals), the three-nave
interior is remarkable for the purity of lines
and the elegance of the vast floor mosaic, full
of votive inscriptions. Among the other works
of art, behind the high altar the gilt silver
altarpiece stands out, the superb work of
Venetian masters (1372); the slender
Romanesque-Gothic ambo (12th-14th
centuries) harmoniously fuses both western
and oriental elements. The presbytery was
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reconstructed with early-Byzantine pluteus
fragments (the -hunter's- pluteus on the right
is remarkable). In the apse, a 14th-century
fresco (Christ in glory among Saints and the
Evangelists' symbols) and two goldbackground
paintings with Saints by an
unknown German painter (early 16th century).
Over a pillar is a spirelet with Crucifix and
dedication to St. Ermacora by Patriarch Vitale
(end of 9th century). Also the lower level
adjacent halls show mosaic floors dating to
Elias's time (571-589), as witnessed by his
monogram: the Trichora houses a rare Coptic
table, sculptures and mosaic fragments; the
Salutatorium, to the south, houses a cast of
St. Mark's Cathedra-shrine (the original is in
Venice); the Mausoleum, where
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the tomb
mosaic of Marciano, known as the exiled or
wandering bishop, is (end of 6th century),
houses a small capital with Elias's monogram
and a 16th-century wooden altar front of
German school with Pietą and characters of
the Passion. Here the Treasure is kept,
containing precious jewellery: two Early-
Christian silver capsellae (reliquaries), a
Byzantine silver reliquary given by Emperor
Eraclio around 630, and a medieval reliquary
of Sts. Ermacora and Fortunato, as well as an
Evangeliary Cover. On top of the tall latemedieval
bell tower (42.60 m high) rises the
so-called -Anzolo-, the bronze angel-shaped
weather vane that has become the symbol of
the city. Behind the Duomo is the Lapidary,
with its hundreds of sculptures and epigraphs
dating from the 1st century BC to the Middle
Ages (particularly relevant is the lintel
dedicated to St. Mark by Patriarch Giovanni
II, 807-810). Roman findings are shown also
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Among the smallest in Italy, Gorizia
province is a unique casket of natural,
historical and cultural beauty, benefiting
from mild climate most
of the year, a place
where, to the
north, the hilly
landscape
of the
Collio area - frequently
terraced and world
renown for its winesopens
to Europe through
the valleys of the Isonzo
and Vipacco Rivers. The
central-eastern part of the
province is of karst...go
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