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Cividale and the Early Centres of Lombard Power in Italy

Les noms des biens figurent dans la langue dans laquelle les Etats parties les ont soumis.

Italie (Europe et Amérique du nord)
Date de soumission : 01/06/2006
Critères: (i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)
Catégorie : Culturel
Soumis par : Ministery of Cultural Heritage and Activities
Etat, province ou région :

Regions: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Lombardy - Provinces: Udine, Gorizia, Pordenone, Belluno, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Brescia, Milan, Pavia, Varese
Ref.: 333

Description

In 568 the Lombards, a Germanic people originating in Scandinavia who had already been settled in Pannonia for several generations, penetrated the Italian peninsula via the eastern mountain passes, overrunning eastern Venetia, in the far corner of the region that was subsequently named Friuli, from the Roman name of Cividale (Forum Iulii). This city, whose well-defended position had earned it the status of Caput Venetiae during the fifth century, became the seat of the first Lombard duchy in Italy.

The Historia Langobardorum, a celebration of a national kingdom written at the end of the eighth century by Paul the Deacon at the Benedictine abbey of Montecassino (the oldest copy of which is conserved in Cividale in the collection of manuscripts belonging to the Chapter of Santa Maria Assunta) tells that the Lombards conquered much of northern Italy (Langobardia maior) in the space of just a few years, initially occupying several Roman urban centres that had maintained a vital role in the organisation of the area and were thus chosen as the seats of power and capitals of the duchies of this warlike people.

The earliest stage of settlement is documented almost exclusively by grave goods from the many necropolises in northern Italy dating from the late sixth and seventh centuries and by traces of occupation of high sites and pre-existent fortresses. Indeed, the territory was controlled by means of an imposing system of castra, which can still be seen throughout Langobardia maior, and in Friuli in particular.

The most important testimony of the Lombard presence (which still survives in place names - first and foremost Lombardy, from Langobardia - proper names, literature and painting, as well as in traditions and popular imagery, and in the continuity of places of worship dedicated to Saint Saviour, Saint John, Saint Michael and Saint Martin) is primarily constituted by rare and precious artistic and architectural monuments designed for cultural uses (churches, monasteries).

The Duchy of Friuli - and Cividale in particular - which always played a leading role in the power struggles and affairs of the Lombard kingdom, is an excellent vantage point, because the traces of Lombard presence are most evident here. The layout of the city and some of its monumental aspects, which can be dated to the sixth and seventh centuries, illustrate the methods of Lombard integration in pre-existent urban contexts and the transformations brought about in the urban fabric. The vestiges of the settlement system and the cornerstones of territorial organisation and control (fortresses, places of worship, monasteries, rural sites) preserve numerous traces of the developments of the Lombard period that occurred in the seventh and eighth centuries, when the new ruling class consolidated its power. Indeed, these traces are still evident in the form of a coherent and unique whole.  

The Valle area of Cividale is a good example. In Lombard times it coincided with the Gastaldaga - the place destined for the gastaldius regis, the king's representative - which is the site of the famed Tempietto Longobardo, the church of San Giovanni in Valle and the Benedictine convent of Santa Maria in Valle.

The oratory or chapel of Santa Maria in Valle, traditionally known as the ‘Tempietto Longobardo', is a unique monument that is among the most complex and fascinating of the Western medieval world. Its interior decoration, particularly the extraordinary stuccowork, constitutes the most extensive and complete testimony of the early Middle Ages that can still be seen today. The Tempietto is a small building with a square nave and a presbytery divided into three parts topped with barrel vaults. The rich eighth-century interior decoration, consisting of stuccowork, frescos, marble slabs, columns and mosaics, belongs to a single decorative scheme, which follows a precise iconographic design. The western wall houses a series of six life-size female sculptures in stucco above a fresco depicting Christ between two archangels enclosed in a lunette framed by splendid intertwining vines, also in stucco. Similar decorative compositions also once adorned the north and south walls of the nave, where only a few frescoes have survived. The lower part of the wall was encircled by a wide marble dado crowned by a long dedicatory inscription of which a few significant parts remain. While the origins of the Tempietto are still uncertain, its erection was undoubtedly connected with the church of San Giovanni Battista, founded in the early Lombard period, of which the Oratory appears to be a well-integrated chapel (possibly a reliquary chapel or martyrium). The main architectural and decorative phase of the Tempietto is commonly ascribed to the late Lombard period, or rather to the period of King Desiderius, probably in relation to the church's role in the convent complex of Santa Maria in Valle.

The church of San Giovanni in Valle, originally dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, considered the patron saint of the Lombards, was probably built during the first half of the seventh century as a royal appurtenance, for its interior has revealed imposing tombs of high-ranking personages buried in front of the presbytery with a rich array of Lombard grave goods.

The Benedictine convent of Santa Maria in Valle already existed in 830, but its origins are even earlier - probably dating back to eighth century, presumably in connection with the renovation and decoration of the Tempietto. It represents an important example of a monastic foundation destined to receive girls of noble lineage.

North of the Gastaldaga was the episcopal complex, Cividale's main religious centre and site of the old cathedral church dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, the baptistery and the patriarchal palace. The vestiges of these complexes are still evident in the monumental remains that succeeded the early medieval ones and in the artistic artefacts that have been conserved, including fine examples of eighth-century church furnishings, such as the famous marble baptismal font commissioned by the patriarch Calixtus, which became a point of reference for the entire sculptural production of the late Lombard period, the Pluteus of Siguald, and the celebrated Ratchis altar, a magnificent example of barbarian craftsmanship, made from marble and sculpted on all four sides with the interesting iconographic themes of the Majestas Domini, Visitation and the Adoration of the Magi.

Other important remains of the early medieval city of Cividale include the ring of walls - Roman in origin but strengthened with the addition of a series of five-sided towers - that also marked the boundaries of the Lombard city, and the places of worship (San Martino, San Pantaleone and San Giovanni in Xenodochio), set in four key points within the city's monumental area. These can be considered churches of the Lombard aristocracy - and in some cases prestigious burial places - which were subjected to renovation schemes promoted by prominent local figures, as demonstrated in particular by the eighth-century sculptural furnishings housed in the Christian Museum and the National Archaeological Museum.

Cividale also boasts an exceptional wealth of information on the development of the funerary culture and customs of the Lombards, dating back as far as the time of their immigration, due to the study of the rich grave goods conserved in the National Archaeological Museum. These were found in the belt of suburban necropolises, excavated between the nineteenth century and the present day, and in the monumental tombs built in the city in disused buildings or churches. A fine example is represented by "Gisulfo's tomb", discovered near the ruins of an imposing late Imperial palace, which is reminiscent of the tombs of dukes or royalty in its extremely rich grave goods that comprise a seal ring, a gold cross studded with precious stones and a small casket decorated with polychrome enamel. 

 In his Historia Longobardorum (IV, 37), Paul the Deacon mentions a system of castles in which the Lombards took refuge at the beginning of the seventh century to defend themselves from the attacks of the Avars. Of these fortalices, he explicitly names seven castra, probably the most important ones: Cormons, Nimis, Osoppo, Artegna, Ragogna, Gemona and the impregnable Ibligo, where archaeological research has enabled the presence of an important Lombard phase to be ascertained, in some cases connected with important defensive and residential structures or significant churches. The finds attest to the centrality of these settlements in the territorial panorama of the period and emphasise their role as centres of power.

In addition to the urban examples, another particularly significant aspect in Friuli is evident in the two monasteries built in rural areas. These monasteries, which were part of a series of noble constructions dating from the mid to late eighth century, became important attractions and economic hubs for the area. All that remains of the monastic complex of  Santa Maria in Sylvis at Sesto al Reghena, built on an earlier settlement dating from late Roman times and ringed by a deep moat, are the ruins of an early medieval three-apsed building that housed important pieces of sculpted wooden church furniture from the eighth and ninth centuries.

Apart from finds in the necropolises, the traces of Lombard presence in Veneto mainly take the form of decorative sculptures from churches and the odd fortified building.

The region of Lombardy, in the heart of Langobardia maior, is home to the royal seats of Pavia - the capital of the regnum - Milan and Monza, and the Ducal ones of Bergamo and Brescia, and represents the linchpin of Lombard settlement in Italy. 

Brescia, the capital of one of the most important duchies of Langobardia maior, has preserved numerous traces of its formal role. The city became a ducal capital of the kingdom during the reign of Desiderius and its power was consolidated by the foundation of three monasteries: San Michele Arcangelo in Leno, San Salvatore in Brescia, and San Salvatore in Sirmione.

The rich architectural and sculptural decoration of the church of San Salvatore, which forms part of the monastery of the same name and currently houses the civic museum, constitutes one of the most important testimonies of early medieval religious architecture and, along with that of Sirmione, confirms the high level of the royal patronage that invested important resources in these constructions.

In Pavia (Ticinum), a small Roman city that was elected capital of the Kingdom, and Milan, the imperial capital since 402, the traces of the Lombard period also take the form of tombs of high-ranking personages located in churches.

During the reign of Agilulf, Monza also occupied an important position in the kingdom. Indeed the memory of the Lombard queen Theodolinda is still particularly alive, for it was she who was responsible for the conversion of the Lombards to Roman Catholicism, marking the first step in the fusion between the populations of Roman and Germanic tradition. The cathedral boasts a famous fifteenth-century fresco depicting Theodolinda's marriage to her first husband, King Authari, while its treasures include the votive crown of gold, mother-of-pearl and precious stones that the queen presented to the Basilica of San Giovanni, which she had personally commissioned.

Outside the cities, Castelseprio (in the province of Varese) represents an example of how fortified settlements could come to play the role of civitates. The site comprises an archaeological park and is renowned for the high quality and size of its monumental and artistic features. The castrum, characterised by a remarkable fortified structure of walls and towers, contains the Lombard remains of wooden houses built along a road. The frescos decorating the central apse of the church of Santa Maria foris portas constitute the finest early medieval pictorial cycle in terms of artistic quality, which is considered unique in early medieval European art.

Valeur universelle exceptionnelle

Satements of authenticity and/or integrity

The monumental buildings of the aforesaid Lombard centres are protected under the current national provisions regulating the conservation of the cultural heritage (Legislative Decree n° 42/2004 "Code for Heritage and Landscape") and municipal and regional provisions (through city planning), as well as by the management mechanisms that ensure their conservation.  

Studies and recent restoration work have also served to clarify and better emphasise the early medieval phases of the monuments.

Comparison with other similar properties

The presence of the Lombard people, of Scandinavian origin, is documented in Central Europe (Moravia, Bohemia, Lower Austria, Hungary and Slovenia), where the surviving artistic artefacts are limited to the sphere of jewellery, during the centuries prior to their migration to Italy. Only after the foundation of the first duchy in Cividale del Friuli, did the Lombard aristocracy promote the construction of exceptionally fine monuments. This process is particularly evident in Cividale del Friuli, and can also be seen in the other aforesaid centres of northern Italy.

These buildings are often compared with the highest expressions of the early medieval art of the Eastern Mediterranean (Byzantine or Syriac) and the Christian West, drawing on the experiences of Rome and Visigoth Spain.