Legend says Attila's soldiers each dropped a helmetful of earth to raise the hill Udine's castle now crowns, but archaeology tells a truer story: the mound was built artificially during the Bronze Age, three to three and a half thousand years ago, confirmed only by studies published in 2022.
The present castle dates to 1517, rebuilt after an earthquake destroyed its predecessor, with exterior decoration contributed by Giovanni da Udine, a pupil of Raphael. Inside, the civic museums combine a picture gallery, an archaeological and numismatic museum, a Risorgimento museum, and galleries of drawings, prints and photography, with works by Tiepolo, who also painted extensively around the city below, among the collection's highlights. From the loggia, the view stretches on clear days from the Alps to the Adriatic.
