Spilimbergo lived a period of great splendour between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and the fortifications, the churches rich in works of art and the numerous noble palaces remain as a testimony. The Santa Maria Maggiore Cathedral, with a cycle of frescoes from the 1300s, is one of the most important Gothic buildings in Friuli. In 1922 the Mosaic School of Friuli Venezia Giulia, renowned throughout the world for cutting-edge processing techniques and for the museum of mosaic art, was founded.