| Municipality of Udine
|
|
Pop.: 94,759
Area: 56,81 sq. km, 113 m a.s.l.
Neighbourhoods: Baldasseria Bassa, Beivars,
Cormor Alto, Cormor Basso, Cussignacco, Godia,
Laipacco, Rizzi, San Gottardo
Town Hall: Via Lionello, 1 - 33100 Udine
Phone.: 0432.271111 Fax: 0432.271617
www.comune.udine.it
|
|
Related links:
- Castle of Udine
- Duomo of Udine
|
|
Udine does not open itself to the
visitors' eyes immediately; it
rather leaves them the pleasure of
discovering its bashful or maybe
jealous face, hidden inside palaces
and churches, in picturesque views that have
retained their charm untouched, behind
streets and squares where strolling at ease is
still possible, in a human dimension that
makes you feel at home. Once visitors
accept that Udine is a quiet and neat
provincial town, then they will find such
pleasant surprises it would have been
difficult to imagine. From Piazza Libertà
(former Contarena and Piazza del vino, then
Vittorio Emanuele II) that many have
defined 'the most Venetian in Italy', apart
from St Mark's square in Venice, of course,
a harmonious ensemble of Renaissance
buildings and monuments, the visitors'
itinerary sets off to discover the artistic
places of the city. The Square is the heart of
Udine: at the foot of Castle Hill, closed on
one side by the Loggia di S. Giovanni, the
Loggia del Lionello and by modest
houses, and resulting from
century-old changes operated in an
originally small space, it stands out
for the pleasant and unusual town planning
solutions it puts forward. The outstanding
monument in the square is the
Loggia di S. Giovanni, for whose
building in 1533, on a model by Bernardino
da Morcote,
|
 |
many town planning and
practical difficulties had to be overcome,
since it had to end on the hillside and it
should have adjoined the already existing
clock tower. Bernardino managed to devise
a successful work abreast with the time but
nonetheless an integral part of the existing
context: a Loggia by Brunelleschi's clarity,
marked by the wide monumental arch giving
access to the church of S. Giovanni. The
loggia incorporates the Clock Tower, built
in 'Roman' forms (but inspired to the clock
Tower in St Mark's square)
by Giovanni da Udine in
1527, with two moors
striking the
|
|
hours on the
bell. Originally made
of wood (actually, in ancient documents they
are called 'gigantes lignei'- wooden giants),
the moors were replaced by copper ones in
1852. On the ramparts are other monuments,
among which the Renaissance fountain,
stern and dignified in its beauty, created by
Master Cipriano in 1542 but designed by
Giovanni Carrara from Bergamo; the
column of St Mark, erected in 1539; the
column of Justice, erected in 1614, with
statue by Girolamo Paleario; the two statues
of Hercules and Cacus that people in
Udine familiarly call Florean and Venturin,
attributed to sculptor Angelo de Putti from
Padua. They are 17th-century and their
history is quite peculiar: they were
originally made to embellish
|
|
the courtyard
at Palazzo Torriani once rising where
present-day Piazza XX Settembre is, but
since in 1716 the Council of Ten had
accused Count Lucio Antonio della Torre of
wickedness, banned him from the State of
Veneto and decreed Palazzo Torriani to be
demolished, the statues however were saved
and moved to Piazza Contarena. After the
fall of the Serenissima in 1797, Lucio
Sigismondo della Torre won the action he
had brought against the municipality of
Udine, the statues were returned to his
property and he donated them to the city on
condition that the whole episode was
recorded in an inscription which is now still
visible (dated 1798) on the pedestals.
On the ramparts there is also the Monument
to Peace: erected in 1819 by architect
Valentino Presani and intended for being
placed in Campoformido to celebrate the
Treaty, it was instead donated to the city of
Udine by Emperor Francis I. The base
showing bas-reliefs of cuirasses, arms and...
|
 |
| Next
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
It is not certain that the name Udine is of
pre-Roman origin, as researchers support,
deriving from a word meaning 'mamma'
and then metaphorically 'hill'. The fact is,
however, that from the hill in the middle
of the city (which according to a
legend was formed with the earth
carried in Attila's soldiers'
helmets since the king, after
having sacked Aquileia, wanted to see
it on fire) it is possible to sweep in
one look the whole of Friuli, from...go
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
