Cividale del Friuli sits where the Natisone river leaves its green valleys and meets the Friulian plain, in the far north-east of Italy, a few kilometres from the Slovenian border. Julius Caesar is said to have founded it as Forum Iulii, which later gave the whole region its name, and in 568 the Lombards, a Germanic people who invaded Italy, made it the seat of their first duchy. UNESCO lists seven Lombard sites across Italy together, and Cividale holds several, among them the Gastaldaga area, where the royal governor, the gastald, had his residence, and the episcopal complex with its cathedral, baptistery and museum. The label cuts off its words, but those are the two places it means.
The remains here are fragments, but what fragments. The Christian Museum keeps the altar of Duke Ratchis, carved in the eighth century with Christ in a mandorla held by flying angels, in a flat, spirited style that is not quite Roman and not quite Byzantine. The Baptistery of Callixtus is an octagonal font under a canopy of columns, and in the Archaeological Museum you will find Lombard grave goods, including gold crosses, brooches and weapons. The most remarkable building is the Tempietto Longobardo, a small chapel above the river, with a frieze of stucco saints that look like a row of calm, large-eyed women in processional robes.
Cividale is a lovely town to arrive in on two wheels. The Devil's Bridge, a high stone arch over the green gorge of the Natisone, was rebuilt after being blown up in the First World War, and legend says the devil built it in a night in exchange for the first soul to cross. East of town the Natisone valleys, known as Slavia Friulana, run up towards Slovenia on narrow, winding roads through chestnut woods, with villages where Slovene dialects are still spoken. The roads are twisty and quiet, with some rough patches and occasional gravel, and the climbs reward you with views of the Julian Alps.
The town has about nine thousand people, so fuel and a mechanic are no problem. Try gubana, the local spiral pastry stuffed with nuts, raisins and grappa, and a glass of Ramandolo or Picolit, the sweet wines of the Friulian hills, or a dry Friulano. Each September the Mittelfest brings theatre and music into the squares. The best seasons are spring and autumn, and if you stay overnight, wander the old streets after dark when the crowds have gone.