By following Google Maps, I ended up at an old village square in Cividale del Friuli which is flanked by a church and a monastery. I was immediately drawn to the church because of it wonderfully preserved frescoes which are on the facade of the church. I was hoping to be able to get in but the doors were closed. I wasn’t sure why but I was disappointed to say the least. However, there was something more important here. The monastery on the other side of the village square houses the UNESCO World Heritage site I was looking for. Now I just need to get in.

There is a path from the village square to the site, however, this is not the correct path for visitors. The one I found is for staff to use, while visitors need to go in another way. I had to retrace my steps and found out that a gate opened. It seemed that I was a bit too early getting here that the main entrance was still closed when I walked past. I was glad that I retraced my steps because if I had given up, thinking that it might be closed for the winter, I would have missed out something significant here. The gates leads directly to the monastery and then to the concierge where visitors can purchase tickets.

[xmlgm {https://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/MonasteryofSantaMariainValle.kmz} zoom=19]