A half day trip to a village full of history
The territory of Gubbio, located in the northeastern area of Umbria, bordering on the Marche, is predominantly mountainous and hilly and is part of the Montalto Alto Alto Chiascio Region. The Umbrian municipality is located in the province of Perugia and is the largest in the region as well as the seventh in Italy. The city, heavily influenced by Mount Ingino, is marked by the torrents Camignano and Cavarello crossing it. The climate is generally mild, the region is not rainy but in winter expect snow.
Gubbio divides itself into neighborhoods, dedicated to several saints who are worshiped in the territory, namely Sant’Andrea, San Giuliano, San Martino, San Pietro. In San Giovanni, San Pietro and San Marziale are called three squares. There is also great devotion to St. Francis, St. Anthony, St. George, and Sant’Ubaldo, the patron saint of Gubbio.
Already during the Bronze Age, there were populations that inhabited Gubbio, ordained on Mount Ingino. Moreover, Gubbio has always been at the center of the exchanges between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Adriatic Sea. In the 89th c. got Roman citizenship, was then meta of Eruli (a Germanic population), Goths, Byzantines, Lombards.
From the economic point of view, Gubbio lives mostly in tourism and handicrafts, an activity that has ancient foundations, especially with regard to ceramics, inlays, liuteria and restoration.
As for the events, there is no embarrassment to the choice. For example, on the evening of August 14, 1980, district representatives challenge for the election of the best one in what is called the Palio of the Crossbow, fighting with the ancient art of the crossbow, precisely. The latter, then, is at the center of the Palio named for it, held every year in May.
Other appointments include the Gubbio Summer Festival, the GubbioDocFest, the Gubbio Tables, the Gubbio Air Show, the aerodynamic rally, various concerts and numerous sports tournaments such as the Future Tournament City of Gubbio, the international tennis tournament. There are so many classical shows that you can see in the area outside the walls, in the beautiful Roman theater during summer evenings. The event that no doubt makes you feel more embarrassed is what concerns the three candles deposited in the Basilica of Sant’Ubaldo, which can be reached by cable car from the Historical Center. The rise of the candles, together with the wolf’s anecdote of Gubbio, is what is more impressed by the tourist who goes to this city with the medieval charm.
According to the hagiography of Saint Francis of Assisi, in fact, he converted a fierce wolf, making him mansuetous and friendly to man, pronouncing these textual words: “Brother Lupo, in the name of God, I order you not to hurt me and all ‘Men’, then making the sign of the cross in his mouth. From that moment on, the wolf became a kind of dog, loved by the people of Gubbio and by the children who used to be barricaded in the house for fear. Returning to candles, it should be said that every year, in May, this event takes place in a race and is also featured in the “Don Matteo” fiction as it is rooted in the Umbrian region as it is present in About 500 years. The origin of the Feast-Rite, the Ceremony, for some is of pagan origin, linked to the goddess Cerere, the Roman goddess of the messes, for other religious. According to the faithful, the event takes place in the devotion of the patron saint, bishop Eugubino Ubaldo Baldassini and, therefore, will be held from 1160, the year of his death. Probably, in this tradition, the sacred and the profane are mixed, as is often the case in Bella Italia. Originally, it was only luminaries, later on, with the Canon of Canonization of Sant’Ubaldo by Pope Celestino III, the party became pensive with today’s folklore. The so-called candy race does not include winners or defeats, but is very much felt by the people of the participants who have the opportunity to show their physical strength in public. To enter the church, in fact, will always be the burial of Sant’Ubaldo, followed by that of San Giorgio and then that of St. Anthony. The waxers, while climbing, can not stop but wait for other Ceraioli who have mistakenly dropped the jar or in places already set as pit-stop.
From the gastronomic point of view, there are really many typical dishes to try: start with truffle dishes, spiced baccalà and grow to panaro, a typical focaccia to be eaten together with the genuine salumi of the place. Same accompaniment is provided for fried bread to be eaten with salami and onion. Do not forget, then, the cheese cake and finish the meal with the so-called Barcarola or a barley and mistrà drink (typical liquor made by wine alcohol distillation and flavored with aniseed infusion served with a Lemon slice) to be consumed with the Sisters of the Sisters of St. Lucia.
A curiosity: Gubbio is defined as the City of the Matthias, but in order to become a part of this community and to receive the title, a kind of license, it is necessary to make a sort of rite. Therefore, if you want to be invested in the “crazy” app, go to Largo Bargello: here, you have to turn around three times around the small fountain present. Also, do not miss a visit to the historic blacksmith shops where you can look closely at this quaint and ancient work. It should also be noted that the city is the theater of the successful fiction “Don Matteo” with Terence Hill in the role of the protagonist, Don Matteo Bondini, parish priest of the church of San Giovanni di Gubbio, together with the Sicilian Nino Frassica, in the fiction Nino Cecchini marshal Of the Gubbio Carabinieri Station.