Gemona del Friuli

Like Warsaw after World War II, today's Gemona - still on the slopes of Chiampon, but otherwise irrevocably changed - is the result of reconstruction after the 1976 earthquake. Upon entering the Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta, one notices that the internal pillars appear visibly out of alignment; less visible is the fact that the building has been firmly encased in an earthquake-resistant structure, and that the bell tower has been rebuilt almost from the ground up. The church, mentioned as early as 1190, was re-consecrated in 1337 at the end of a major renovation. The alterations made to the façade in 1827 maintained the gigantic St Christopher, the portal dating back to the original building, the rose window, and the gallery with statues of the Madonna and the Magi. Upon entering, one notices in particular, in addition to fragments of frescoes from the XIV, a 15th-century crucifix (right) mutilated by the earthquake, the later choir with 16th-century paintings, the high altar with a polychrome marble antependium (1654), the 16th-century crucifix hanging in the presbytery, and, in the neighbouring weekday chapel, a Roman altar from the 16th century. I-II bearing dolphin figures, reused around the year 1000 as a baptismal font.

Opposite the cathedral, the narrow axis of the pretty Via Bini begins, where quite a few houses retain their frescoed sections.