History:
The city's origins are very ancient. The hills above the town were already occupied in the Bronze Age. As Ikuvium, it was an important town of the ancient Umbrian people in pre-Roman times, made 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 Umbria. After the Roman conquest in the 2nd century BC — it kept its name as Iguvium — the city remained important, as attested by its Roman theater, the second-largest surviving in the world.
Gubbio became very powerful in the beginning of the Middle Ages. The town sent 1000 knights to fight in the First Crusade under the lead of count Girolamo Gabrielli, and according to an undocumented local 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. Gubbio became part of the Papal States in 1631, when the family della Rovere, to whom the Duchy of Urbino had been granted, was extinguished. In 1860 Gubbio was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy along with the rest of the Papal States.
The historical center of Gubbio is of decidedly medieval aspect: the town is austere in appearance because of the 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. This secondary entrance is 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 called such because it is commonly thought these doors were used for removing bodies of the dead. Its more likely the doors were used by the inhabitants to protect themselves when opening to unknown persons, giving them in a dominating position.
Gubbio is also famous among geologists and paleontologists as the discovery place of what was at first called the "Gubbio layer", a sedimentary layer enriched in iridium that was exposed by a road-cut outside of town. This thin, dark band of sediment marks the K–T boundary, between the Cretaceous and Tertiary geological periods roughly 65 million years ago, and was formed by infalling debris from the gigantic meteor impact believed to be responsible for the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.
The Race of the Ceri
The date of May 15 has been a very special day for the town of Gubbio since ancient times. It’s the day of "Festa dei Ceri." The climax of this historic festival is the Corsa dei Ceri — Ceri race. Three teams of 20 people compete in a race carrying three heavy wooden statues — of three saints, on palanques up through the city to the cathedral on top of Mount Ingino. The race is not won by who arrives first (the team carrying St. Ubaldo always arrives first) but who arrives in the best style.
The origins of this festival are unknown, but most theories link the festival to the patron saint of the city, Saint Ubaldo, a bishop who died in 1160. According to other theories the origins are to be found in pagan celebrations of Ceres, the Roman goddess of the harvest, later appropriated by Christian tradition.
Don't miss:
- The Roman Amphitheater in the valley, built in the 1st century BC using square blocks of local limestone. During summer it is used for lectures about ancient poets and authors.
- Palazzo dei Consoli. The massive Palazzo dei Consoli (first half of the 14th century), housing the museum with the Eugubine Tables.
- The Funiculare (standing chairlift) to the top of Mount Ingino
- Cost: €4, €5 round-trip
- Hours: Sept.-June, daily 10-1 and 2:30-6; July and Aug., daily 8:30-7:30.
- The Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo, where the Saint is laying resplendent and the Ceri are kept.
- Taverna del Lupo - one of the best restaurants in Central Italy: http://www.tavernadellupo.it/en/index.php