Duomo di Udine (Cattedrale di Santa Maria Annunziata)

Udine Cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria Annunziata, is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Udine. Construction began in 1236, and the cathedral was consecrated as Santa Maria Maggiore in 1335. The building was reshaped in the Baroque period and contains works by Tiepolo, Pordenone and other Friulian and Venetian artists. The Museo del Duomo occupies the ground floor of its bell tower.

Why it matters

The cathedral was founded under Patriarch Bertoldo di Andechs-Merania on the site of an earlier church dedicated to San Girolamo. It was in religious use by 1257, when it was dedicated to San Odorico. In 1335, Patriarch Bertrando di San Genesio consecrated the church as Santa Maria Maggiore and established the Cappella dell’Annunziata, from which the cathedral’s present dedication descends. The cathedral remains the mother church of the archdiocese.

What to notice

In the Cappella del Santissimo are works by Giambattista Tiepolo. The interior’s Baroque character reflects the work of Domenico Rossi and Abondio Stazio. Paintings and sculpture include works by Pomponio Amalteo, Pordenone, Pellegrino da San Daniele, members of the Torretti family, Domenico da Tolmezzo and Dorigny. The Manin family mausoleums are also part of the cathedral. The bell tower, designed by Cristoforo da Milano and dated 1441, was intended to carry a statue of the Madonna as part of an unrealised Annunciation scheme. The Museo del Duomo is dedicated to the Blessed Bertrando of Saint-Geniès and presents material relating to the cathedral, the Baptistery and the Purità oratory.

Context and history

The cathedral’s present appearance reflects several building campaigns. Its Baroque transformation followed the early church, while the brick façade was remodelled in the twentieth century in a Romanesque-Gothic style, including the Portale della Redenzione. The tower’s original design would have completed an Annunciation composition with the angel on the castle, but the Madonna statue was never installed. The museum in the bell tower preserves elements of the cathedral’s wider artistic and liturgical heritage.