The old residence of the patriarchs of Aquileia, the
palazzo Patriarcale, was erected in 1517 in place of the older one destroyed by an earthquake in 1511. In 1708 the patriarch Dionisio Dolfin called upon the architect
Domenico Rossi, who built the wing with the library and the oval staircase, raised the central body by creating the portal, completed the north wing and, in 1725, the main staircase. Under the Austrians it was used as a prison. A
recension of the
Visigothic code of laws, called the
Breviary of Alaric, was formerly preserved in the cathedral archives, in a manuscript known as the
Codex Utinensis, which was printed before it was lost. In the 1550s,
Andrea Palladio erected some buildings in Udine. The
Oratorio della Purità has 18th-century frescoes by
Giambattista Tiepolo and his son
Giandomenico. The church dedicated to St. Mary of the Castle is probably the oldest in Udine, judging from extant fragments dating back to the Lombard era. It lost its parish status in 1263, when it was annexed to the larger parish of Saint'Odorico (now the cathedral). It has been renovated many times over the centuries: the façade, for example, was entirely rebuilt after the
1511 Idrija earthquake. Its three naves preserve the suggestive atmosphere of silence and contemplation, which is often found in old churches. The Venetian Governor, Tommaso Lippomano, commissioned the Venetian Gothic
portico with steps and ramps leading down the hill in 1487. In the principal square (
Piazza della Libertà) stands the town hall (
Loggia del Lionello) built in 1448–1457 in the Venetian-Gothic style opposite a clock tower (Torre dell'Orologio) resembling that of the
Piazza San Marco at
Venice. It was begun in 1448 on a project by
Nicolò Lionello, a local goldsmith, and was rebuilt following a fire in 1876. The new design was projected by the architect
Andrea Scala. Opposite the Loggia del Lionello is the Loggia di San Giovanni, a Renaissance structure designed by Bernardino da Morcote. Other noteworthy monuments in the square are the Fountain by Giovanni Carrara, an architect from Bergamo (1542); the Columns bearing the
Venetian Lion and the Statue of Justice (1614), the statues of Hercules and Cacus and the Statue of Peace (1819) which was donated to Udine by Emperor
Francis I to commemorate the peace
Treaty of Campoformido. The Cathedral of Udine is an imposing edifice whose construction started in 1236, on a Latin cross-shaped plan with three naves and chapels along the sides. The church was consecrated in 1335 as
Santa Maria Maggiore. At the beginning of the 18th century, a radical transformation project involving both the exterior and the interior was undertaken at the request and expense of the Manin family. The Baroque interior has monumental dimensions and contains many works of art by
Tiepolo,
Amalteo, and
Ludovico Dorigny. On the ground floor of the bell tower (built from 1441 over the ancient baptistry) is a chapel which is completely adorned with frescoes by
Vitale da Bologna (1349). The centre of Udine is dominated by the
castle, built by the Venetians from 1517 over a Lombard fortification ruined by an earthquake in 1511. The current Renaissance appearance dates from the intervention of Giovanni da Udine, who finished the works starting from 1547. The castle houses one of the most ancient Parliament Halls of Europe. == Other points of interest ==