Visiting Gubbio
Located
north-east of Perugia in Umbria, central Italy, Gubbio's historic centre is a
crash course in medieval architecture. It is a town of Gothic austerity,
dark-grey stone and narrow streets; developed to defend the wealth and
power acquired as a city state. The Romans constructed the second largest
theatre in the empire just outside the walls. Within them, the number and
richness of merchants' houses are just as inspirational as the
twelfth-century cathedral with its striking rose window and symbols of
the Evangelists, or the Palazzo Ducale, built in 1470 with the most
extravagant flourishes late medieval craftsmen could make, to show the
grandeur and status of Federico II di Montefeltro, Gubbio's new
conqueror. The palazzo's Inner Court is reminiscent of the same patron's
Palazzo Ducale in Urbino.
Gubbio is home to the Eugubine Tables, a set of bronze tablets that
constitute the largest surviving text in the ancient Umbrian language.
They are housed in the massive, early fourteenth-century Palazzo dei
Consoli, itself a statement of how Gubbio prospered in the Middle Ages.
Among the city's other treasures are the basilica of Sant'Ubaldo (which
has remnants of beautiful fifteenth-century frescoes), a Roman mausoleum,
the late thirteenth-century church of San Francesco, Santa Maria Nuova
and the Pallazzo and Torre Gabrielli.
On 15 May, the city's palio, the Corsa dei Ceri takes place. Three teams
devoted to saints, each carrying a statue on an octagonal plinth weighing
400 kg (880 lb) and 5 m (16.5 ft) tall, race from the Palazzo dei Consoli
to the basilica of Sant'Ubaldo. The teams wear distinctive costumes of
yellow, blue or black tunics, white trousers and red belts and neckbands.
The race is followed by a raucous throng of supporters supporting their
own city district. The race is one of Italy's best examples of living
folk tradition.
The best time is to arrive in
May and see the Corsa dei Ceri which is the Race of the Candles. You can
reach Gubbio by bus or train to Fossato di Vico.
