A treasure chest of wonders
The Museum, established by Imperial Royal Decree in 1817, houses precious artifacts that gradually narrate the Roman, Early Christian era, then move on to the Early Middle Ages, the Romanesque period, and finally the Gothic.
The ground floor includes the lapidary, epigraphic, and mosaic sections, as well as interesting sculptures from the medieval age.
The first floor is dedicated to the Lombard age and presents very important artifacts from the first Lombard settlement in Forum Iulii (6th-7th century) to the last expression of Lombard art, already intertwined with the Carolingian world. A private collection of fifty-six Lombard gold coins is also on display, some of which are extremely rare: the collection is considered the second in the world of its kind, for the number and importance of the pieces.
The museum is housed in the Palazzo dei Provveditori Veneti, built in the 16th century according to the design of Andrea Palladio.
(info taken from the site turismofvg.it)
The museum's website describes it as: "Il Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Cividale è un museo indissolubilmente legato al suo territorio e oggi, a duecento anni dalla sua fondazione, la vera sfida è quella di restituire l’immagine autentica e affascinante della storia di questa istituzione, raccontando le scoperte avvenute nella città e nel suo agro e le significative tappe dell’evoluzione urbana, con particolare attenzione alle trasformazioni avvenute tra l’età tardoromana e l’altomedievo".
In-depth: history and works
Excerpt from patrimonioculturale.regione.fvg.it
Established in 1817 by the initiative of the canon and scholar Michele della Torre Valsassina, starting from 1889 the Museum was first hosted in the halls of Palazzo de Nordis, then from 1990 in the sixteenth-century Palazzo dei Provveditori Veneti, built on the initial design by Andrea Palladio to close the eastern side of the piazza del Duomo.
The archaeological collections range from the protohistoric to the Romanesque period. Particularly extensive is the lapidary section which contains, among other things, early medieval sculptures of considerable historical and historical-artistic interest. Notable also is the series of bronzes that adorned the Roman forum of Iulium Carnicum (Zuglio). The main core of the Museum consists of the Lombard section. The large quantity and variety of exhibits on display allow for retracing the entire chronological span of the Lombard presence at Forum Iulii, from the period immediately following immigration—represented by the funerary goods of the necropolises of San Giovanni-Cella and Santo Stefano in Pertica (late 6th - mid 7th century)—up to the last phases of the Friulian duchy, to which elaborate expressions of sacred goldsmithing are attributed. The Museum also possesses a substantial number of artworks, goldsmiths' works, and illuminated manuscripts (including the famous Egbert Psalter) from various eras.
Among the most significant stone artifacts are the cimasa of presbyter Ianuarius from Invillino and the pluteus with Christological monogram from the church of S. Maria Assunta. Among the sacred goldsmith works from the period of the Friulian duchy, the peace of Duke Orso and the processional cross from Invillino stand out. In the Lombard section, within the repertoire of weapons, pottery, personal adornment objects, and everyday use items from the numerous Cividale funerary areas, the gold foil crosses, which were applied to the veil or shroud of the deceased (famous is the so-called “of Gisulfo”), and the various types of fibulae, worked in filigree or embellished with stones and enamels, particularly stand out. In the numismatic collection, the important collection of 56 gold coins from the Lombard kingdom owned by the Fondazione Friuli is noteworthy.
Useful Information
National Archaeological Museum of Cividale del Friuli
Piazza Duomo 13
33043 Cividale del Friuli (UD)
Tel. +39 0432 700700
www.museoarcheologicocividale.beniculturali.it.
To discover the collections click here
museoarcheocividale@beniculturali.it