The Medieval Castle of Partistagno and the Castle Church of Saint Oswald

The castle complex of Partistagno is situated on a hill overlooking Borgo Faris, along the road from Cividale to Attimis. It was built on the remnants of the 13th-century "castelnuovo," which was ceded by the Partistagno lords when they joined the Republic of Venice. This jurisdiction provided the area with a period of relative stability. It was during this time that the "medieval" part of the site seems to have been constructed, characterized by the palatium equipped with bifora windows.
About a century later, the castle was described as "flattened" in the Commentarii by Giovanni Candido, likely referring to the upper and older part, which included the tower and the domus, abandoned and already partially in ruins at the time of the palatium's construction. The church dedicated to Saint Oswald belongs to this older portion, now appreciated in its 16th-century version with a single nave and a façade surmounted by a bifora bell tower.
The apse houses a fresco cycle divided into three bands: the upper one depicting Christ Pantocrator in a mandorla surrounded by the symbols of the four Evangelists, the central one featuring the figures of the twelve Apostles, and the lower one decorated with a faux marble base. The fresco is attributed to the so-called "Master of Partistagno," who worked in the third quarter of the 14th century, with a style showing a late influence from the school of Vitale da Bologna.