After leaving Trieste, we took a train to Udine, which would be our base for the next two days. While we didn’t spend too much time in the city center, one of the most impressive sights is Piazza Libertà, the oldest square in the city and considered one of the most beautiful.
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Created in Venetian style, the piazza includes columns, statues and, if you’ve been to Venice, several recognizable symbols of Venetian power.
Next stop was Cividale, founded as a Roman city by Julius Caesar around 50 BC.
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The small town, although no longer an important regional power, still attracts tourists due to its historical medieval center and lovely location on the Natisone River.
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The Devil’s Bridge, (Ponte del Diabolo), which attaches two parts of the town, is accompanied by legend.
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According to Cividale.com, “The popular fantasy has connected the construction of the bridge to the supernatural…, according to which the devil would have facilitated the construction of the bridge overnight in exchange for the soul of the first person passing through… But the inhabitants of Cividale mocked the devil, sending through the new passage an animal, (dog or cat), according to the versions.”
The most interesting place we visited, however, was the Lombard Temple of Santa Maria in Valle. After touring the monastery, we arrived at the Oratorio, the most important and celebrated monument of the era. In 2011, the Monastery of Santa Maria in Valle and the Longobard Temple were declared World Heritage Sites [Italia Longobardorum. Places of The Power {568 – 774 AD}].
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What made this especially fascinating was our ability to see the restoration effort occurring in real-time in a nearby church. Piece by piece, the restorers are working to recreate what once existed.
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This man, I was told, is the head of the project.
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Before leaving, we lingered a bit longer to soak in a view only nature can provide.
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Our final stop of the day was Venzone, a town hit by a major earthquake in 1976. Per the pictures below, you can see that almost all of the historic center was destroyed.
What is of great interest is how, over a seven year period, the town was rebuilt. After the quake, stones of collapsed buildings were carefully catalogued and stored, providing the foundation needed to rebuild what once existed.
In 2017, Venzone was chosen as one of Italy’s most beautiful villages. Borghi Belli judges said one of the reasons was because it was “one of the most extraordinary examples of architectural and artistic post-earthquake recovery”. Bravo Venzone!
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The next day, we would take the train to Verona, the last stop of our northern adventure. It was time, however, to bid arrivederci to Carlo’s wonderful cousins, who not only shared so much of their time with us, but also served as excellent tour guides for the area they call home. Grazie tantissimi!
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Ciao,
Judy
Blogging In Italy 