Journey to discover Cividale del Friuli and the Natisone Valleys

Seat of the first Lombard duchy in Italy, Cividale del Friuli is the starting point of the UNESCO itinerary dedicated to the legacy that this mysterious people left to Italy. The city preserves precious testimonies of the period, first and foremost the Tempietto. Adorned with Byzantine frescoes and stucco decorations, it was erected in the second half of the 8th century as the chapel of the Benedictine women's monastery of Santa Maria in Valle.

At the Christian Museum you will find the Longobard Altar of Ratchis, Duke and later King of Longobard Italy. Originally richly coloured and decorated, the bas-reliefs of this important masterpiece can now be viewed thanks to a permanent multimedia display.
Another monument within the site is the Baptistery of Callisto, with its octagonal structure and seven small arches supported by marble columns.
Finally, the Cathedral Treasury, rich in gold and liturgical objects, paintings and sculptures, manuscripts and codices. 

Another must-see is the National Archaeological Museum, housed in the Palazzo dei Provveditori Veneti, designed by Andrea Palladio.
Here you can admire valuable finds from the Roman, early Christian, early medieval, Romanesque and Gothic periods. Lapidary, epigraphic and mosaic sections, and above all a private collection of 56 Longobard gold coins, the second largest in the world.

The journey to beautiful Cividale del Friuli ends at CIPS, the Podrecca-Signorelli International Centre, dedicated to the marionettes of Cividale resident Vittorio Podrecca and to the creator and collector of puppets and marionettes Maria Signorelli.
An exhibition full of prestigious specimens and stage backdrops, scripts and small theatres.

Behind Cividale, the Natisone Valleys are a mysterious land that has always been of strategic importance for the defence of the Italian peninsula: the Romans made the Via Appia Antica pass through here; the Republic of Venice granted these territories wide autonomy in exchange for the defence of the plain; during the Great War, the second Italian defence line ran through here; finally, after World War II, the area was reduced to a military servitude to protect the eastern border, often limiting economic and urban development. But it is precisely this limit of the past that now returns a surprising landscape: narrow valleys with a still wild appearance, streams flowing steeply between gorges and waterfalls, unexpected caves in the midst of verdant woods and sometimes spectacular caves such as that of San Giovanni d'Antro, which, according to legend, also offered refuge to the Longobard queen Teodolinda.

Between one valley and the next, a few dozen very small villages with typical stone houses and small churches from the 15th century, as well as educational nature centres. The historical link with Italy has not erased the original language and culture, which are Slovenian and enrich these lands with legends and traditional festivals. This territory is also narrated in the Museum of Landscapes and Narratives in San Pietro al Natisone, a space that interweaves artistic experimentation and territories of memory.

The Natisone Valleys are also the homeland of one of the region's gastronomic specialities, gubana, a sweet filled with walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, sultanas and 15 other ingredients. It should not be missed when paired with a locally produced grappa or one of the famous wines from the Colli Orientali del Friuli DOC area.