UNESCO

SITO UNESCO

The serial site “Longobards in Italy. The Places of Power (568-774 A.D.)”, inscribed since 2011 on the UNESCO World Heritage List, includes seven important monumental complexes (including fortified centres, churches and monasteries), located throughout the peninsula, which testify to the high artistic level reached by the Longobards.

The process of cultural synthesis carried out by the Longobards, integrating classical-Roman tradition, the spirituality of Christianity, Byzantine influences and Germanic traditions, marked the transition between antiquity and the European Middle Ages.

The monumental and artistic developments of the assets of the series testify to the extraordinary process of cultural interchange and integration between the original High Germanic experiences, local customs (Roman and Byzantine) and the contributions of Mediterranean and Eastern areas.

The assets in Cividale included in the World Heritage List are:

• the area of the Gastaldaga, with the Longobard Temple, adjacent to the Monastery of Santa Maria in Valle;
• the Episcopal complex, consisting of a group of communicating buildings comprising:
  • the religious buildings, probably still largely buried under the present cathedral, adorned with the sculptures now preserved in theChristian Museum and Treasury of the Cathedral: the Baptistery of Callixtus and the Altar of Ratchis
  • the Patriarchal Palace, the remains of which can be found in the basement of the National Archaeological Museum.