Udine and Piazza della Libertà
The Venetian square of the mainland
At the heart of Friuli, at the foot of the hill on which its castle stands, Udine is an elegant and welcoming city, which for almost four centuries, from 1420 to 1797, was part of the Republic of Venice, and which preserves many traces of Venetian rule. Its most beautiful corner is Piazza della Libertà, often called "the most beautiful Venetian square on the mainland", a harmonious and scenic ensemble of Gothic and Renaissance buildings. On one side stands the Loggia del Lionello, the town hall, built in the fifteenth century in Venetian Gothic style, with arches and white and pink stone striped like the Doge's Palace in Venice. Opposite rises the Renaissance Loggia di San Giovanni, with a long portico and the Clock Tower, crowned by two bronze "mori" (Moors) who strike the hours, in imitation of the one in St Mark's Square.
The square is decorated with a column with the Lion of St Mark, symbol of Venice, the statues of Hercules and Cacus, the Statue of Justice and a beautiful Renaissance fountain. From the square, passing under the Arco Bollani, designed by Andrea Palladio in 1556, a covered gallery, the Salita al Castello, leads up the hill to the Castle, the former seat of the Venetian lieutenants, which today houses the Civic Museums, with the art gallery, the archaeological museum and the museum of the Risorgimento, and from whose esplanade the view sweeps over the city and the Friulian Alps. The heart of Udine is a place for meeting and for the "tajut", the glass of wine that the Friulani drink with friends at the bar.
Tip: have a "tajut" in one of the osterie around the square; climb up to the castle for the view of the Alps.
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