| Municipality of Udine
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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
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Related links:
- Castle of Udine
- Duomo of Udine
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shields, is the work of Michele Zuliani,
while the coldly Neoclassical statue
symbolizing peace was made by the
Piemonte artist Giovanni Battista Comolli.
On the opposite side of the square is the
Loggia Comunale, called 'del
Lionello' as it was erected in 1448 on a
design by Nicolò Lionello at the behest of
the Republic of Venice aiming at asserting
its power over Udine. The building is in the
tradition of Venetian palaces with loggia:
supported by columns on the ground floor, it
shows a luminist inversion of full and
empty spaces, even more marked by Pietro
Bagatellas idea in the 17th century to open
the loggia completely, whereas Lionello had
only designed a small opening on the
ground floor. The façade is decorated with
alternated rows of white and pink stone,
with the presence of multiple lancet
windows on the first floor which contribute
to the building refined and sober elegance.
The Loggia is one with the palace
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housing the town hall offices, majestic work by
architect Raimondo D'Aronco from Gemona
built between 1909 and 1930 ca. to replace
the previous 16th-century building that was
popularly thought to have been built by
Jacopo Sansovino. This sumptuous palace by
the ingenious solutions is the living tribute
to DAroncos artistic creed, as he
was one of the leading
exponents of Liberty style.
The seventeen allegorical
statues outside the palace,
all more than two and a
half metres tall, are by
Aurelio Mistruzzi; inside,
Valerio Franco is the artist
of bas-reliefs and Alberto
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Calligaris made the
imposing wrought iron
railings. The massive arch
towered by the Venetian
Lion leading from Piazza
Libertà to the Castle was
designed in 1556 by
Andrea Palladio in honour
of lieutenant Domenico
Bollani. By walking
through the lovely
Loggia
del Lippomano (1487),
consisting in four long covered stretches
connected by short flights of stairs, with a
continuous row of trefoil arches, the church
of S. Maria is reached, the oldest in
town built between the 12th and 13th
centuries, except for the façade rebuilt after
the 1511 earthquake. The nave and two aisles
inside, divided by wide full arches, boast a
remarkable cycle of Romanesque frescoes
(probably 13th century) in the right absidiole,
showing the Deposition in the conch and
figures of Apostles and sacred scenes in the
hemicycle and wall. The church stands
between the beautiful 16th-century bell tower
with an angel-shaped weather vane and the
Casa della Confraternita, a medieval
building restored in 1930. Further behind,
dominating the whole, is the imposing
Renaissance Castle, built in its present
structure after 1511 on the ruins of the
previous building destroyed by the
earthquake. The prestigious seat of
the Aquileia Patriarchs in the
Middle Ages and the residence
of the Venetian governors after
1420, the building of the
Castle began in 1517 on a
design by architect
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Giovanni Fontana and was
continued in 1547 by
Giovanni da Udine, who
gave it a definitely 16thcentury
outlook and added
the grand staircase. The
Castle has, however, an
imposing structure,
underlined by the series of
large and small windows
and balconies and
embellished in the central
body with three arches
with columns and pilasters
closely reminiscent,
though in their Lombard
version, of Roman
triumphal arches. Inside is the spectacular
Parliament Hall where wall frescoes
celebrate Venices grandeur and virtues (The
Battle of Malgariti, Curtius throwing himself
in the chasm, Death of Cato Uticensis, Siege
of Aquileia by Maximinus the Thracian,
allegorical scenes) executed in the second
half of the 16th century by Pomponio
Amalteo and Giovanni Battista Grassi; the
ceiling panels carry allegorical paintings. In
the 1800s, under Austria, the Castle was used
in turns as barracks, prison, law courts, town
hall, and it was in its dungeons that Silvio
Pellico and other Italian
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patriots were
prisoners. From its height, the Castle has
witnessed, and
Udines citizens too, the great events of
history, as the entrance of the 'Savoia' Light
Horse squads on 3 November 1918 or the
arrival of the allied troops on 1 May 1945
and today it houses the Towns Museums.
Strolling along the oldest districts in town,
prestigious buildings may be seen: in
Mercatovecchio, one of the most
characteristic streets in town, the severe
palace of Monte di Pietà
(-pawnbrokers- mid-17th cent.) has the
chapel of S. Maria with Giulio
Quaglios frescoes on the ...
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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
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