A few steps from via Monastero Maggiore, at no. 2 is the Celtic Hypogeum. It consists of various underground rooms, carved into the rock with primitive technique, which develop at different levels, branching approximately in the shape of a K.
A steep ladder leads into the central chamber, from which three corridors depart. In the walls there are niches and rough benches, but the greatest mystery is represented by three crude masks.
The original function of this very particular monument, which has no parallel in Friuli, is still an unresolved question. Apart from the fanciful interpretations blended with legend, a funerary use of the hypogeum in the Celtic era has been hypothesized, while other scholars consider the premises to be prisons from the Roman or Lombard period. The hypogeum seems to have been obtained from a natural cavity along the rocky right bank of the Natisone river, which flows underneath. Of pre-Roman age, perhaps Celtic, its function at the time is unknown. Given the closure of the natural opening towards the river, it perhaps served as a water cistern and was certainly reused later, although the reason is not known. Connecting steps were carved into the rock, as well as stone seats and benches, pillars and, most curiously, two roughly carved faces seem to be millenary sentinels safeguarding ancient cults. The presence of water, which wets the paved surfaces and filters through the porous rocks, could be indicative, suggesting possible rituals of which the proceedings are unknown. On the left are two stone seats, which necessarily narrow the passage: here two people could sit, perhaps as part of the ritual.
Information about Celtic Hypogeum
Via Monastero Maggiore, 2
33043 Cividale del Friuli (Udine)
0432710422
turismo@cividale.net
https://www.cividale.net
Source: MIBACT
