Piazza della Libertà

Udine's Piazza della Libertà brings together a Venetian Gothic loggia, a clock tower, a Renaissance fountain and Palladio's arch leading toward the castle hill. Its architecture has earned it the description of a Venetian-style square on the mainland.

Why it matters

The square is a civic and architectural centre of Udine, reflecting Friuli's long association with the Republic of Venice, which governed the city from 1420 until the republic's fall in 1797. During the Venetian period it was known as Piazza Contarena. Its monuments combine civic institutions, religious architecture and symbols of Venetian rule, beneath the hill that has long defined the city's skyline.

What to notice

The Loggia del Lionello, built in alternating white and pink stone, faces the Loggia and Tempietto di San Giovanni. The Lionello's upper level has traceried windows and a Madonna and Child holding a model of the castle as it appeared before the 1511 earthquake. Above San Giovanni rises the clock tower with its two figures that strike the hours. The ensemble also includes the Fontana del Carrara, a column bearing the winged lion of Saint Mark, statues of Hercules and Cacus, and the Arco Bollani, designed by Andrea Palladio in 1556.

Context and history

The square developed as Udine's political centre, with its buildings and monuments reflecting successive civic and governmental periods. The Loggia del Lionello served public life, while the lion of Saint Mark marked Venetian sovereignty. In 1920 Raimondo D'Aronco converted the church of San Giovanni into the Pantheon dei Caduti, a memorial to the fallen; its portico retains a sundial dated 1798 and commemorative busts. The layered ensemble remains closely connected to the castle and its museums above.