Casa del Trecento

The 1976 earthquake cost San Daniele almost its entire medieval fabric. The exception is the Casa del Trecento, the only dwelling of the ancient borgo left intact, survivor of wartime bombing and the quake alike, now guarding a small museum of Alpini and Great War memorabilia.

Why it matters

The Pro San Daniele historic-artistic itinerary introduces the house as the only dwelling of the ancient medieval borgo left intact, and the Visit San Daniele foundation repeats the point: after bombardments in 1944-1945 and the earthquake of 1976 that gravely damaged the rest of the city, this one building came through whole. That makes it the last physical witness of the town's medieval domestic architecture — everything around it was rebuilt — and explains why the modest house beside the campanile is flagged as a national monument in the heritage lists of the Castles consortium, which records a house on this spot by 1309.

What to notice

The house stands beside the cathedral bell tower; their proximity is part of the story of how the buildings survived the earthquakes. The building also has a civic past: the tourism page recalls that the house once hosted the town's Banco dei Pegni, the public pawn bank, and the source describes its role as important to the local economy, reflecting the civic functions of medieval houses. Inside, after restoration, the building was entrusted to the local section of the Associazione Nazionale Alpini, whose exhibition gathers uniforms, equipment and documents related to the Alpini corps and the First World War.

Context and history

The house belongs to the first flowering of San Daniele, the medieval free commune that traded across the Friulian hills; a dwelling stood here by 1309, according to the Castles consortium's record. Through the centuries the building served commerce and credit as the seat of the pawn bank. The twentieth century tested it twice: Allied and German bombardments in 1944-1945, and the Friuli earthquake of 6 May 1976, which reduced much of the borgo to rubble and led to its wholesale reconstruction; the uniform facades reflect that rebuilding. Against that backdrop the Casa del Trecento's intact medieval structure became a symbol of continuity, preserved by restoration and handed to the Alpini association, whose members keep both the memory of the mountain corps and, incidentally, the only medieval interior in town.