Monastery of S. Maria in Valle

The Monastery’s existence is documented for the first time in year 830 A.D., in a diploma issued by the carolingian emperors Lotharius and Ludwig. This document assigned jurisdiction over the Convent of Santa Maria, to the Patriarch of Aquileia.
This monastic institution was situated within the city walls in the Valle area, and shared boundaries with the church of San Giovanni (which was not included in the donation, as it still formed part of the Gastaldaga). Up to that date, therefore, the Monastery has been a part of the King’s estates.

View of the Monastic complex from Natisone river

The Monastery was probably founded during the Longobard period, sometime between the middle and the third quarter of the 8th century, at a time in which there seems to have been a surge in the number monastic foundations by the King and his Longobard aristocracy. In the duchy of Friuli at this time the Monasteries of Sesto and Salt were founded by high ranking patrons.

The cloister

Some traditions still alive in Cividale, which however have never been confirmed by other elements, ascribe the foundation of Santa Maria to a Longobard woman of royal blood, possibly Queen Tassia, wife of Ratchis (744-749) or else Giseltrude, the wife of Ratchis’s successor, Astulf, and sister of Duke St. Anselm, founder of the large Monastic complex of Nonantola.