Friuli-Venezia Giulia · Udine
Cividale del Friuli
The Lombard capital on the Natisone, founded as Forum Iulii by Julius Caesar, where an eighth-century chapel still holds six stucco saints.
Known for
TEMPIETTO LONGOBARDO
Eighth-century chapel with six stucco saints, the most complete surviving Lombard interior and a UNESCO site since 2011.
PONTE DEL DIAVOLO
Two asymmetrical arches over the Natisone, begun 1442, built around a midstream rock the devil was said to have dropped.
MITTELFEST
Annual July festival of Central European theater, music, and dance, running since 1991 across piazzas and courtyards.
COLLI ORIENTALI DEL FRIULI PICOLIT
The commune lies inside the Colli Orientali del Friuli Picolit DOCG production zone.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J8°
- F11°
- M13°
- A16°
- M20°
- J26°
- J29°
- A28°
- S23°
- O19°
- N13°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Cividale del Friuli sits on the right bank of the Natisone, fifteen kilometers from Udine and close enough to the Slovenian border that the river marks it. Julius Caesar founded the place as Forum Iulii in the first century BC, the name that eventually gave Friuli its own. In 568 the Lombard king Alboin made it the capital of his first Italian duchy, and the Patriarchate of Aquileia later moved its seat here for four centuries.
The Tempietto Longobardo, an eighth-century palatine chapel, holds six stucco female saints carved around 760, the best-preserved sculpture of the Lombard age in Europe. It is one of seven sites in the UNESCO serial nomination Longobardi in Italia. The Ponte del Diavolo, begun in 1442, spans the Natisone gorge in two asymmetrical arches. The Palio di San Donato fills the streets in late August, and Mittelfest brings Central European theater and music to the piazzas every July.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Cividale del Friuli’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
How to get there
From Venice (TSF), about 2 hours by car.
Verona (VRN) is about 3 hours away.
By car from the centre of Udine 26 minutes or Trieste 1h 14m.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Venice?
Coming by train into Trieste Centrale? Cividale del Friuli is about 1h 12m away by road.
What to see
Tempietto Longobardo
Eighth-century palatine chapel in the Monastero di Santa Maria in Valle, with six stucco female saints in high relief, UNESCO-listed since 2011.
Ponte del Diavolo
Stone bridge over the Natisone gorge, begun in 1442 on two asymmetrical arches resting on a central rock outcrop.
Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta
Fifteenth-century cathedral with the Pala di Pellegrino II, a twelfth-century gilded silver altarpiece, and an attached Museo Cristiano.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Housed in the Palazzo dei Provveditori Veneti attributed to Palladio, with Lombard grave goods, gold cross filigree, and Roman finds.
Ipogeo Celtico
Underground chambers cut into the rock under the centro storico, of debated Celtic or Lombard origin, used as burial or prison cells.
Casa Medievale
Restored fourteenth-century merchant house on Via Borgo de Ponte with wooden balcony and original kitchen, the only surviving private medieval interior.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Cividale del Friuli fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
We recommend
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Al MonasteroRistorante
Al Monastero holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Through the year
What happens here
Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.
Palio di San Donatopatron saint's feast
usually held in August. TrovaSagre
Living here
- Population 10,815
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Venice, 1 h 53 min drive
- Regional capital Trieste, 1 h 14 min drive
Common questions
- What is Cividale del Friuli known for?
- Cividale del Friuli is the Lombard capital on the Natisone, founded as Forum Iulii by Julius Caesar, where an eighth-century chapel still holds six stucco saints.
- Where is Cividale del Friuli?
- Cividale del Friuli is a comune in the province of Udine, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, at 138 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Cividale del Friuli?
- Venice (TSF), about 2 hours by car.
- Can you get to Cividale del Friuli without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Udine to Cividale del Friuli?
- About 26 minutes by car.
- When is the best time to visit Cividale del Friuli?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Cividale del Friuli?
- Yes. Palio di San Donato. August is when the first of them falls.
- Which other towns are like Cividale del Friuli?
- Canelli, Certaldo and Gorizia.
- How many people live in Cividale del Friuli?
- 10,815 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 138 m
- Population: 10,815
- Surface area: 50.65 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
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