Just 20 minutes away by car from the Villaverde Hotel & Resort is the city of Udine, a critical point on the route linking eastern and western Europe. The streets of Udine guard ancient and precious treasures. Piazza Libertà is considered to be the most beautiful Venetian piazza on terra ferma with its town hall (Loggia del Lionello), the monument to peace ordered by Napoleon, the statues of Hercules and Cacus, witnesses to cruel events, the clock tower and, finally, moving up through the Bollani Arch designed by Palladio, is the castle, with museums inside, and the Church of Santa Maria with its Romanesque frescoes and the bell tower with its bronze angel pointing the direction of the wind.

The Tiepolo Diocesan Museum, situated in the bishop’s palace, is one of the city’s artistic treasures and contains an exceptional cycle of frescoes by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and is the site of the diocesan museum.

What is now piazza Matteotti, know before as piazza San Giacomo or the Mercato Nuovo, has always been one of the most frequented parts of the city. In the centre, on a stone mount, is Giovanni da Udine’s Fountain (dated 1543) and the column with the statue of the Madonna with Child (dated 1487). Spacious lines of porticoes run along three sides of the piazza, interrupted by the courtyard and the well next to the church of San Giacomo (dated 1398).

And lovers of Italian fashion can visit the numerous shops found under the porticoes of Via Mercatovecchio. There are also many inns and bars where you can enjoy an excellent local wine with friends.