Top: San Giovanni Clock Tower and Liberta Square; Angel monument at Udine Santa Maria Church; andUdine Cathedral (left to lower right);bottom:Via Mercatovecchio [it]; Loggia del Lionello; andMatteotti Square [it] (left to right)
Udine was first attested in medieval Latin records asUdene in 983 and asUtinum around the year 1000. The origin of the nameUdine is unclear. It has been tentatively suggested that the name may be of pre-Roman origin, connected with theIndo-European root *ou̯dh- 'udder' used in a figurative sense to mean 'hill'.[5][6] The Slovene nameVidem (with final -m) is ahypercorrection of the local Slovene nameVidan (with final -n), based on settlements namedVidem in Slovenia.[6] The Slovene linguistPavle Merkù characterized the Slovene formVidem as an "idiotic 19th-century hypercorrection."[7]
Udine is the historical capital ofFriuli. The area has been inhabited since theNeolithic age.
Based on an old Hungarian legend,Attila (?–453), the leader of the Huns, built a hill there, when besiegingAquileia, because he needed a billet for his winter quarters: he instructed his soldiers to bring soil in their helmets and shields, because the landscape was too flat, without any hill. He established the town there, and built a square tower.[8]
After the fall of theWestern Roman Empire, the area increased in importance after the decline of Aquileia, then further after the decline ofCividale. In AD 983 Udine was mentioned for the first time, with the donation of theUtinum castle by emperorOtto II to thePatriarchs of Aquileia, then the main feudal lords of the region. From 1222 it became one of the residences of the Patriarchs, thanks to the patriarch Bertoldo of Andechs, who moved from Cividale to Udine following an earthquake that damaged his residence.[9] In 1223, with the foundation of the market,[10] the city became finally the most important in the area for economy and trade, and also became the Patriarch's seat.
Udine as it appeared in 1650
In 1420, it was conquered by theRepublic of Venice.[10] In 1511, it was the seat of a short civil war, which was followed by an earthquake and a plague. Udine remained under Venetian control until 1797,[10] being the second largest city in the state.
In 1880 the city council ordered that the remaining sections of the medieval walls should be demolished to provide space for urban expansion.[11]
DuringWorld War I, from May 1915 to October 1917, Udine became the seat of the Italian High Command and was nicknamed "Capitale della Guerra" ("War Capital"). After thebattle of Caporetto, it was occupied by the Germans in late 1917[12] and by theAustro-Hungarians in 1918 until after theBattle of Vittorio Veneto in 1918. After the war it was made capital of a short-lived province (Provincia del Friuli) which included the current provinces of Gorizia, Pordenone and Udine. After September 8, 1943, when Italy surrendered to the Allies in World War II, the city was under directGerman administration, which ceased in April 1945.
The city is located in the center of the historical region of Friuli. It is just over 20 km from Slovenia as the crow flies, and approximately 54 km from Austria. This places it in a strategic position, at the intersection of the European east-west (Mediterranean Corridor V) and north-south (Via Iulia Augusta, now recognized by the European Union as part of the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor[13]) routes, on the route leading to Austria and Eastern Europe.
It lies in the high plain, a few kilometers from the hilly area, and is bordered by the Cormor stream to the west and the Torre stream to the east. At the center of the city, it sits on an isolated hill, atop which sits the castle: according to legend, the hill was built by Attila the Hun to overlook the fire he himself set on the city of Aquileia. In reality it was thought that it was formed by conglomeratic rocks older than 100,000 years, while recent archaeological excavations have demonstrated that it is an artificial relief, devoid of rocks.[14][15]
Udine has ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen:Cfa). Precipitation is abundant all year round with spring and autumn being the wettest seasons. The highest temperature recorded was 38.2 °C (101 °F) on July 21, 2006 while the lowest temperature recorded was −18.6 °C (−1 °F) on December 19, 2009.[16]
Climate data for Udine (Rivolto Air Base) (1991–2020, extremes 1969–present)
In 2007, there were 97,880 people residing in Udine itself (whereas the greater area has a population double its size), located in the province of Udine,Friuli-Venezia Giulia, of whom 46.9% were male and 53.1% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 14.36% of the population; in comparison, to pensioners accounted for 24.27%. This contrasts with the Italian average of 18.06% (minors) and 19.94% (pensioners). The average age of Udine residents is 47 compared to the Italian average of 42. Between 2002 and 2007, the population of Udine grew by 1.48%, whereas Italy as a whole grew by 3.56%.[22] The current birth rate of Udine is 9.13 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.
The nearby area close to the border has aSlovene population estimated at 2,000.[10] A 1475 document mentions Slovene as the language of the "lower class" in the town, and the Udine Manuscript of 1458 contains Slovene vocabulary.[10] Alasia da Sommaripa's Italian–Slovenian dictionary was printed in Udine in 1607.[10]
Udine is one of the municipalities inFriuli whereFriulian is taught.
As of 2024[update], 85.30% of the population was of Italian descent. Of the four provincial capitals of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region,[23] as of 1 January 2024, Udine has the second highest percentage of foreign residents: 14,536 presences or 14.8% of the total population, higher than the regional average of 9.2%.[24]
Piazza della Libertà and the Loggia di San Giovanni
Loggia di San Giovanni, clock tower (Torre dell'Orologio)
Loggia del Lionello
By night
The old residence of the patriarchs of Aquileia, thepalazzo Patriarcale, was erected in 1517 in place of the older one destroyed by an earthquake in 1511. In 1708 the patriarch Dionisio Dolfin called upon the architectDomenico Rossi, who built the wing with the library and the oval staircase, raised the central body by creating the portal, completed the north wing and, in 1725, the main staircase. Under the Austrians it was used as a prison.
Arecension of theVisigothic code of laws, called theBreviary of Alaric, was formerly preserved in the cathedral archives, in a manuscript known as theCodex Utinensis, which was printed before it was lost.
The church dedicated to St. Mary of the Castle is probably the oldest in Udine, judging from extant fragments dating back to the Lombard era. It lost its parish status in 1263, when it was annexed to the larger parish of Saint'Odorico (now the cathedral). It has been renovated many times over the centuries: the façade, for example, was entirely rebuilt after the1511 Idrija earthquake. Its three naves preserve the suggestive atmosphere of silence and contemplation, which is often found in old churches. The Venetian Governor, Tommaso Lippomano, commissioned the Venetian Gothicportico with steps and ramps leading down the hill in 1487.
In the principal square (Piazza della Libertà) stands the town hall (Loggia del Lionello) built in 1448–1457 in the Venetian-Gothic style opposite a clock tower (Torre dell'Orologio) resembling that of thePiazza San Marco atVenice. It was begun in 1448 on a project byNicolò Lionello, a local goldsmith, and was rebuilt following a fire in 1876. The new design was projected by the architectAndrea Scala.
Opposite the Loggia del Lionello is the Loggia di San Giovanni, a Renaissance structure designed by Bernardino da Morcote. Other noteworthy monuments in the square are the Fountain by Giovanni Carrara, an architect from Bergamo (1542); the Columns bearing theVenetian Lion and the Statue of Justice (1614), the statues of Hercules and Cacus and the Statue of Peace (1819) which was donated to Udine by EmperorFrancis I to commemorate the peaceTreaty of Campoformido.[25]
The Cathedral of Udine is an imposing edifice whose construction started in 1236, on a Latin cross-shaped plan with three naves and chapels along the sides. The church was consecrated in 1335 asSanta Maria Maggiore. At the beginning of the 18th century, a radical transformation project involving both the exterior and the interior was undertaken at the request and expense of the Manin family. The Baroque interior has monumental dimensions and contains many works of art byTiepolo,Amalteo, andLudovico Dorigny. On the ground floor of the bell tower (built from 1441 over the ancient baptistry) is a chapel which is completely adorned with frescoes byVitale da Bologna (1349).
The centre of Udine is dominated by thecastle, built by the Venetians from 1517 over a Lombard fortification ruined by an earthquake in 1511. The current Renaissance appearance dates from the intervention of Giovanni da Udine, who finished the works starting from 1547. The castle houses one of the most ancient Parliament Halls of Europe.
Museo Diocesano e Gallerie del Tiepolo, fresco, detail of Rachel sitting on the idols, Laban (older) and Jacob (younger)
Civici musei e gallerie di storia e arte (since 1906) with Museo Archeologico, Galleria d'Arte Antica, Galleria dei Disegni e delle Stampa, Museo Friulano della Fotografia, Fototeca e Collezioni Risorgimentali[27]
Udine is important for commerce, with several commercial centers in the hinterland. There are also iron and mechanical industries (Danieli and ABS are the most important),ICOP,De Eccher.
^Pellegrini, Giovan Battista. 1990.Toponomastica italiana: 10000 nomi di città, paesi, frazioni, regioni, contrade, fiumi, monti spiegati nella loro origine e storia. Milan: Hoepli, p. 130.
^abSnoj, Marko (2009).Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen. Ljubljana: Modrijan. p. 454.
^Toporišič, Jože. 2002. "Pavle Merkù o Slovenskem pravopisu 2001."Kras 54/55: 62–64. Reprinted in: Jože Toporišič. 2011.Intervjuji in polemike, pp. 329–333. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, p. 330.
^Lengyel, Dénes (1972).Régi Magyar mondák. Budapest: Móra Ferenc.ISBN963-11-2928-4.
![Top: San Giovanni Clock Tower and Liberta Square; Angel monument at Udine Santa Maria Church; and Udine Cathedral (left to lower right); bottom: Via Mercatovecchio [it]; Loggia del Lionello; and Matteotti Square [it] (left to right)](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aUdine_collage.png)
