by InTrieste
Fifty years after the devastating 1976 earthquake that struck Friuli, the Friuli Venezia Giulia regional government and ERPAC, the regional agency for cultural heritage, are presenting RINASCITE: From Leonardo da Vinci to Contemporary Art, an exhibition exploring how communities respond to destruction and rebuild in its aftermath.
Opening Nov. 14, 2026, at Villa Manin in Passariano, near Codroipo, the exhibition runs through Feb. 21, 2027. Rather than focusing solely on the anniversary, it examines how a profound rupture can become the starting point for social and cultural renewal.
“The Friuli earthquake is an integral part of regional and national history and can be viewed as a phenomenon that sheds light on issues that remain relevant today: the relationship between communities and their territory, between heritage and identity, and between crisis and transformation,” said the exhibition’s curator, Villa.
Bringing together historical documents, archival footage, architectural photography, works from major Italian collections and contemporary art, the exhibition traces how societies have represented destruction and renewal throughout history.
A central theme is what writer Gianni Rodari, reporting from the disaster for the newspaper Paese Sera, described as the “second day”: the moment when a community begins to look beyond its losses and recognizes that its future is not defined solely by what has been destroyed.
By placing the Friuli earthquake within a broader artistic and historical tradition, RINASCITE seeks to explore a universal question: how can a society transform the experience of loss into the possibility of a new beginning?
Visitor Information
The exhibition runs from Nov. 14, 2026, to Feb. 21, 2027, at the Esedra di Levante, Villa Manin, Piazza Manin 10, Passariano di Codroipo, in the province of Udine.
Opening hours are Tuesday through Sunday, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Special holiday openings are scheduled, while Mondays are generally closed.
Admission costs €12 for adults, €8 for eligible visitors over 65 and holders of selected membership cards, and €5 for young visitors aged 11 to 17 and university students up to 26. Children up to 10 enter free. On the first Sunday of each month, admission is €5, with exemptions for eligible free-admission categories.
Guided tours are available every Sunday at 3 p.m. The combined ticket and guided tour costs €19 at full price. Audio guides in Italian and English are available for €5.
Villa Manin can be reached by car, with parking available near the complex. Visitors arriving by train can travel to Codroipo station and continue by taxi.
Tickets can be purchased online or at the exhibition. For reservations and information, contact +39 0432 821260 or prenotazioni.rinascite@regione.fvg.it.
Further information and tickets are available through the official Villa Manin website.
