HISTORY

The central Piazza del Duomo and the streets that converge on it are overlooked by various buildings and monuments, whose history, as well as elegance and grandeur, as in the case of Palazzo de Nordis, reveal the influential and prestigious role played by Cividale for many years: an important trade centre from the first century BC with the Romans, the first Longobard duchy in Italy in 568 AD, seat of the Patriarchate of Aquileia since the 8th century, capital of the Patria del Friuli since 1077 and, during the long domination of the Republic of Venice (1420-1797), seat of the Provveditorato Veneto

Although still important from a cultural point of view, its political importance became less prominent during the brief Napoleonic period and the subsequent Habsburg period, which lasted almost half a century. Annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866, Cividale was directly involved in the main conflicts of the twentieth century: painfully affected by the defeat of Caporetto in 1917, it was awarded the silver medal for military valour for its contribution to the partisan struggle for liberation from Nazi-Fascism.

In 2011 the monumental Longobard heritage of Cividale was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site as part of the serial site “The Longobards in Italy. The Places of Power (568-774 AD)”