Museums
The museums — Ratchis, Callixtus and the Lombards
Cividale del Friuli · Friuli-Venezia Giulia
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- Museums
- COUNTRY
- Italy
- REGION
- Cividale del Friuli · Friuli-Venezia Giulia
- DURATION
- 1–2 days
ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
Two museums a minute apart on Piazza del Duomo hold the capital’s treasury. The Christian Museum & Cathedral Treasure displays the two masterworks of Lombard sculpture: the altar that Duke Ratchis carved for the church of San Giovanni (his image of the Visitation is the first emotion in Italian sculpture for five centuries) and the octagonal baptistery of Patriarch Callixtus, reassembled floor to ceiling from surviving pieces. Across the square, the National Archaeological Museum — housed in a Palladio-designed palace — tells the whole story from Celtic and Roman Cividale through the Lombard tombs: gold crosses, combs, the famous “warrior’s kit”, and the everyday objects of the people who invented this town’s golden age.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
Ratchis, duke and later king, carved (or commissioned) his altar in the mid-8th century; the baptistery was raised by Callixtus, the patriarch who reorganised the see after the Lombard conquest. Both survived because they were buried or dismantled and recovered: the baptistery was reassembled in the 20th century from some 700 pieces. The National Museum opened in the Palazzo dei Provveditori Veneti, built in 1565 to designs attributed to Palladio.
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
The altar of Duke Ratchis — the Visitation relief above all.
The baptistery of Callixtus, rebuilt from 700 pieces.
The Lombard gold and grave goods in the National Archaeological Museum.
The cathedral treasure and its picture gallery.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
Between the two museums and the Tempietto, Cividale holds the densest collection of Lombard art on Earth — the civilization’s whole visual world in one square.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before you go
MAP & LOCATION
The museums — Ratchis, Callixtus and the Lombards
The museums — Ratchis, Callixtus and the Lombards, Cividale del Friuli, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
46.0941, 13.4366
MORE ATTRACTIONS
More to see in Cividale del Friuli
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
Trattoria under the arcades of Corso Paolino d’Aquileia — Natisone trout and frico
Pasticceria on Piazza del Duomo — the gubana, the town’s own pastry
Osterie of the Natisone valleys — barley soup and smoked pork in bilingual villages
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
Historic-centre B&Bs and rooms in the old town’s palazzi
Agriturismi among the Colli Orientali vineyards — stay at the winery
Udine as the rail-connected base — Cividale is 24 minutes away by train
ITINERARIES
Day-by-day routes
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
Continue the journey
PART OF
Keep exploring
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