A hidden gem
Inside the Ursuline monastery, which in the past was occupied by the Benedictines, lies one of the most important and well-preserved architectural testimonies of the Lombard era.
It can be reached through an ancient wooden gate that gives access to the cloister. It is particularly significant because it combines typical Lombard architectural motifs, as seen in the friezes, with a reference to classical models, thus creating an artistic continuity between Roman, Lombard, Carolingian art (which often involved Lombard craftsmen, as in Brescia), and Ottonian art.
This site is part of the UNESCO heritage “Longobards in Italy: Places of Power,” a collection of seven places rich in artistic and architectural testimonies of the Lombard era, recognized in 2011.
The construction of this chapel dates back to around the mid-8th century and was originally a palatine chapel, meaning dedicated to the king and his palace, built in the place where the gastaldia, the palace of the gastaldo, the lord of the city, once stood.
It was probably commissioned by Astolfo, Duke of Friuli and King of the Lombards, and his wife Giseltrude. When the gastaldia transformed into the monastery of Santa Maria in Valle in the 7th century, it also incorporated the church of San Giovanni in Valle and the small temple that took the name of Santa Maria. According to some documents from the 9th-10th century, the area also hosted buildings such as the gastaldia, the seat of the Lombard government, the duke's residence, and the small temple, which served as a court chapel. Archaeological excavations have revealed structures from the late Roman and early Christian periods, later overlapped by early medieval buildings.
The exterior of the small temple is very simple and does not hint at the beauty found inside. It consists of a square room with a large cross vault, ending with a lower presbytery, divided by pairs of columns into a three-bay loggia with barrel vaults. The west wall was the original entrance, and traces of stucco decorations and frescoes can still be seen today. The apse was decorated with mosaics, but no traces remain today.
To visit the Tempietto, one enters from the former monastery, now municipally owned, and exits via a walkway suspended over the Natisone, which did not originally exist. This walkway leads to the exit through the sacristy and a second entrance in the presbytery wall. The chapel has a large central space, with a richly decorated portal on the back wall, now closed and connected to the convent. Here there is also a wooden choir loft dating back to the 15th century. The presbytery is divided by four double columns and two rectangular pillars, creating three barrel-vaulted spaces, separated from the nave by an iconostasis parapet. The door is decorated with a frieze of tendrils and clusters, with an image of Christ between the Archangels Michael and Gabriel at the center.
Photo G. Burello
Further information (refer to the official site of the Tempietto):
Gli apparati decorativi del Tempietto
