Piazza Matteotti, via delle Erbe, piazzetta Lionello, piazza del Duomo

The present piazza Giacomo Matteotti was formerly known as piazza San Giacomo or Mercato Nuovo, and has always been one of the busiest parts of town. At its centre, on a stone elevation, is the Fountain by Giovanni da Udine (1543) and the slim pillar with the statue of the Madonna with Child (1487). Along three sides of the square there are airy rows of porticos, interrupted near the little square with the well where the
Chiesa di San Giacomo (Church) - 1398 stands out. In the XVIIIth century the Cappella delle Anime (Chapel) was built next to the church.

By way of via delle Erbe, that starts at the end of the square,we arrive almost opposite the Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall), designed by the Friuli architect Raimondo D’Aronco, situated in piazzetta Lionello.

From piazzetta Lionello we go to piazza del Duomo, to admire the majestic sacred building, named after Santa Maria Annunziata.

 

The exterior of the Duomo (Cathedral), and in particular its façade, testify to the numerous transformations the building underwent in the course of centuries, such as the addition of the lateral chapels in the XVIth century and the XVIIIth century restructuring. Inside, the presbytery and the lateral chapels were glorified with Carrara marble altars, sculptures, stuccos and golden and polychrome paintings. Inside the Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistery) is also the Arca dei Santi Ermacora e Fortunato (Ark), originally commissioned by the Patriarch Bertrando to preserve the relics of the early martyrs Ermacora and Fortunato, but it became instead his own sepulchre in 1350. Outside the Cathedral one should stop and admire the Oratorio della Purità with painting of Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo.

 

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