Tempietto Longobardo

The Tempietto Longobardo in Cividale del Friuli is an eighth-century chapel with an unusually complete early medieval decorative ensemble. Stucco figures, coloured glass details and later frescoes survive within its small vaulted interior above the Natisone gorge.

Why it matters

Built after the middle of the eighth century within the residence of the Lombard gastaldo, the chapel is associated with the seat of royal authority in Cividale. Its stucco decoration is described as an unicum in Italy, and its paintings rank among the richest surviving ensembles of the early Middle Ages. The Tempietto forms part of Cividale's component of the UNESCO property “The Lombards in Italy: The Places of Power (568–774).”

What to notice

The small square hall rises beneath a groin vault. Six nearly life-size female figures in high relief stand on the east wall; their precise identity remains debated. Green and blue glass ampoules are set at the centres of flowers in the stucco. Later wall painting includes a depiction of Mary Magdalene beside Saint Sophia and her daughters Faith, Hope and Charity. Art historian Hjalmar Torp interpreted the chapel's decoration as combining Western and Eastern traditions.

Context and history

The chapel was built after the mid-eighth century as a palatine chapel associated with the gastaldo's residence. Its craftsmen may have included workers of Syrian-Palestinian origin. After the end of Lombard rule, the building was incorporated into the neighbouring monastery of Santa Maria in Valle, and later frescoes were added in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The chapel was inscribed in the UNESCO serial property in 2011 and reopened in 2025 following conservative restoration of its stuccoes and wall paintings.