Civic Museums and Galleries of History and Art, Udine

The first written record of the castle’s origins dates back to 983, when Emperor Otto II granted the castrum of Udine to the Patriarch of Aquileia. By the late 12th century, the patriarchal palace was built in the upper area of the hill, featuring a triangular tower. It was still an occasional residence of the Patriarch of Aquileia, who at the time was based in Cividale. Starting from the end of the 13th century, during the patriarchate of Raimondo della Torre, a new palace was built further north. The new building, larger and more luxurious, was equipped with a private chapel and a hall or “caminata,” used to host members of the nobility, clergy, and local communities, essentially the Parliament of the Patria del Friuli, a consultative assembly that assisted the patriarch in judicial and administrative functions. Following the 1976 earthquake, the castle suffered severe structural damage and was reopened only in 1980 with a new arrangement. Currently, the museum features on the ground floor a room with wooden sculptures from the Ciceri Collection; the Archaeological Museum, divided between the ground floor and mezzanine; on the noble floor, the Art Gallery and the Parliament Hall; on the third floor, the Gallery of Drawings and Prints and the Friulan Photography Museum. In 1906 the castle became a Museum and today houses the Civic Museums; it hosts an art gallery, the archaeological museum, an art library, and a photo archive. The rooms often host temporary exhibitions.