During the Lombard rule, the area of Valle was part of the Gastaldate – the territory administered by the Gastald, the royal official who represented the Lombard King in the Duchy.

Towards the end of the 8^th century, a women’s monastery was erected next to the ancient Church of San Giovanni, intended as a place of retreat for girls from noble families. The early convent gradually gained prestige and status until it became the powerful Monastery of Santa Maria in Valle. 

The Monastery of Santa Maria in Valle was home to Benedictine nuns until the 19^th century, when the Ursuline sisters took over and established a girls’ boarding school that educated generations of students until the late 20^th century.

The founding of a boarding school required that part of the Monastery be allocated to education and prompted a remarkable transformation of the architectural complex, while another section continued to house the cloistered community. Religious life within the Monastery of Santa Maria in Valle came to an end in 1999.

In 1891, the Ursuline sisters donated the Tempietto Longobardo to the Municipality of Cividale del Friuli, which subsequently opened it to the public in 1893. At the time, visitors entered the site from Piazza San Biagio, crossing the suspended walkway overlooking the Natisone River – the current exit.

The Municipality of Cividale purchased the Monastery complex in 2001, to launch an important enhancement project aimed at attaining UNESCO World Heritage listing. The Monastery was called upon to take a new role as a cultural and social hub for the town.

A new access system to the Tempietto was also introduced. The grand entrance gate of the Monastery of Santa Maria in Valle opened once again in 2008 to welcome visitors wishing to explore the royal palace chapel. The new route allows visitors to experience and visit areas that for centuries had been closed to all but the nuns.