Cividale Del Friuli Overview

On the banks of the Natisone River, tiny Cividale (chee-vee-DAH-leh; pop. 11,000) is perhaps the most enchanting town in Friuli. Founded by Julius Caesar as Forum Iulii, Cividale eventually became the capital of the first Lombard duchy in AD 568 and later flourished as a meeting point for artists and nobility during the Middle Ages. Cividale, a mere 20min. train ride from Udine, draws visitors with its well-preserved medieval monuments and natural beauty.

• Transportation and Practical Information

Cividale is best reached by train from Udine (20min., 25 per day 6:33am-11:33pm, €2.10). Buy tickets in the Udine train station. The train station, Vle. Libertà 43, is near the centro. (☎ ...more

• Accommodations and Restaurants

Quiet Cividale lacks a wide variety of budget accommodations, but the tourist office lists available affittacamere (rooms for rent). Casa Franca, V. Alto Adige 15, is a 10 minute walk from the train station ...more

• Sights and Activities

The dark, gray-stone interior of the centro ’s 15th- and 16th-century duomo houses the Renaissance sarcophagus of Patriarch Nicolò Donato, left of the entrance. Five stained-glass windows ...more

• Nightlife

Cividale doesn’t offer much in the way of nightlife, but the town’s center is the place to find what little there is. By night,   Caffe San Marco attracts a youthful yet refined clientele ...more