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Odoric of Pordenone is very popular in the Friuli region of Italy. His body is in the Church of Beata Vergine del Carmine (Virgin of Carmine) in Udine, where he lived for several years. He studied in the Franciscan monastery near the St. Francis Church in Udine (the big church is still there, but there is no longer a monastery). Also, Pordenone returned to that monastery after his legendary journey to China. After his death, a beautiful marble coffin was made for his body by Filippo De Sanctis in 1331 in Venice. The coffin was taken to the St. Francis Church in Udine in May 1332. When the Franciscan monastery near the Udine church was converted into a hospital in 1770, the Franciscan friars went to the smaller monastery of Beata Vergine del Carmine, and the marble coffin with the body of the Blessed Odorico was set in the nearby church, where it is today.

Photographs by Carlo Garberscek, Udine, Italy.