Cividale

A site, Cividale del Friuli, in northeast Italy with fine surviving examples of Lombardic architecture from the 8th century. There is an octagonal baptistery, the chapel (Tempietto) of a nunnery, and the altar of the church of S. Martino. The national archaeological museum contains Gothic and Lombard antiquities.

The little church of Santa Maria in Valle or the ‘Tempietto’ at Cividale, near Friuli in northeast Italy, is one of the finest surviving examples of Lombardic architecture. It was built between 762 and 776 and combines elements of Lombardic ‘protoRomanesque’ with Arabic and Byzantine influences. The groin-vaulted nave is carried on columns and leads to a small sanctuary. The plainness of the exterior greatly contrasts with the abundant carved decoration and sculpture which adorns the inside; most of which is carried out in the unusual medium of stucco. The most impressive feature of all is the frieze of six full-length stucco figures, whose graceful poses resemble mature Romanesque sculpture.