is a town and
Comune in the far northeastern part of the
Italian Province Of Perugia , (
Umbria ) It is located on the first slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the
Apennines .
The city's origins are very ancient: as ''Ikuvium'', it was an important town of the ancient
Umbrian people in pre-Roman times, and is famous for the discovery there of the
Eugubine (or Iguvine) Tables , a set of bronze tablets that together constitute the largest surviving text in ancient Umbrian. After the Roman conquest in the
2nd Century BC — it kept its name with only a slight change (
Iguvium ) — the city remained important, as attested by its Roman theater, the second-largest surviving in the world.
Gubbio became very powerful since the earliest Middle Age. The town sent 1000 knights to fight in the
First Crusade under the lead of Count
Girolamo Gabrielli , and according to an undocumented tradition, they were the first to penetrate into the
Holy Sepulchre when the city was seized (1099).
The following centuries were quite turbulent and Gubbio was engaged in wars against the surrounding towns of Umbria. One of these wars saw the miraculous intervention of its bishop, Saint
Ubaldo Baldassini , who secured Gubbio an overwhelming victory (1151) and a period of prosperity.
In 1350
Giovanni Gabrielli, Count Of Borgovalle , a member of the noblest family of Gubbio, seized the power and became lord of Gubbio. However his rule was short and he was forced to hand over the town to
Cardinal Albornoz , representing the Church (1354).
A few years later,
Gabriello Gabrielli , bishop of Gubbio proclaimed himself again lord of Gubbio (Signor d’Agobbio). Betrayed by a group of noblemen which included many a relative of his, he was forced to leave the town and seek refuge at his home castle at Cantiano.
With the decay of the political prestige of the
Gabrielli family, Gubbio was thereafter incorporated into the
Montefeltro State, and eventually became part of the State of the Church when this family extinguished (1631).
In 1860, when the State of the Church collapsed, Gubbio entered the Kingdom of
Italy .
The historical center of Gubbio is of concentratedly medieval aspect: it is an austere-looking town of dark grey stone, narrow streets, and Gothic architecture.
A fair number of the houses in Gubbio date to the 14th and 15th centuries, and were originally the dwellings of wealthy merchants; they often have a second door fronting on the street, usually just a few inches from the main entrance, narrower, and a foot or so above the actual street level. This type of door is called a ''porta dei morti'' (door of the dead) because it is commonly stated that it was used only for removing the bodies of any who might have died inside the house. This is almost certainly false, but there is no firm agreement on the true purpose of the secondary doors.
The main monuments of the city include:
- the , built in the 1st century BC using square blocks of local limestone. The cavea had originalley a diameter of 70 meters. During summer it is used as a suggestive site of lectures of ancient poets and authors.
- Roman Mausoleum (sometimes said to be of Pomponius Graecinus , but on no satisfactory grounds)
- The massive (first half of the 14th century), housing the museum with the Eugubine Tables.
- Palazzo and Torre Gabrielli
- (Cathedral), built in the late 12th century. Its most striking feature is the rose-window in the facade, with, at its sides, the symbols of the Evangelists: the eagle for St. John , the lion for St. Mark , the angel for St. Matthew and the ox for St. Luke . The interior has latine cross plan with a single nave. The most precious art piece is the wooden Christ over the altar, of Umbrian school.
- The , built from 1470 by Luciano Laurana or Francesco Di Giorgio Martini for Federico Da Montefeltro . Famous is the inner court, reminescent of the Palazzo Ducale of Urbino . The ducal ''studiolo'', with carved wooden panels, is now at the Metropolitan Museum in New York .
- The (second half of the 13th century), the sole religious edifice in the city having a nave with two aisles. The vaults is supported by octagonal pilasters. The frescoes in the left side dates from the 15th century.
- The , a typical Cistercian edifice of the 13th century. In the interior is a 14th century fresco portraying the so-called ''Madonna del Belvedere'' (1413), by Ottaviano Nelli. It has also a work by Guido Palmerucci . Also from the Cistercians is the '''Convent of St. Augustine''', with some frescoes by Nelli
- The , with a nave and four aisles, is a sanctuary outside the city. Noteworthy are the marble altar and the great windows with episodes of the life of St. Ubaldo, parton of Gubbio. The finely sculpted portals and the fragmentary frescoes give a hint of the magnificent 15th century decoration once boasted by the basilica.
Gubbio is best known for its
Palio , the
Corsa Dei Ceri , a spectacular race held every year on
May 15 , in which three teams, devoted to S. Ubaldo (the patron saint of Gubbio), S. Giorgio, and S. Antonio, run through throngs of cheering supporters (clad in the distinctive colours of yellow, blue and black, with white trousers and red belts and neckbands), up much of the mountain from the main square in front of the Palazzo dei Consoli to the basilica of S. Ubaldo, each team carrying a statue of their saint mounted on a wooden octagonal prism, similar to a hour-glass shape 5 meters tall and weighing over 400 kilograms.
The race has strong devotional, civic, and historical overtones and is one of the best-known folklore manifestations in Italy; the Ceri were chosen as the heraldic emblem on the coat of arms of Umbria as a modern administrative region.
A celebration like the Corsa dei Ceri is held also in
Jessup, Pennsylvania . In this small town the people carry out the same festivities as the residents of Gubbio do by "racing" the three statues through the streets. This remains an important and sacred event in both towns.
Branca, Torre Calzolari, Spada, Padule, San Marco, Colpalombo, Carbonesca, Biscina, Belvedere, Scritto, Ponte D'assi, Cipolleto, Ferratelle, Semonte, Casamorcia, Raggio, Monteleto, Mocaiana, Monteluiano, San Martino in Colle, Loreto, Camporeggiano, Burano.
