The city of Urbino (Italy) is one of the centers of the Italian Renaissance. It is the birthplace of many famous painters and sculptors. The city is very popular among tourists due to the incredibly beautiful views and well-developed tourist infrastructure. Famous cultural and historical objects are distributed all over the world, for example, in the form of a painting by F. Brondini with the castle of Urbino on the postage stamps of Italy.
History of the city
If you look at the map of Italy, Urbino is located in the east of the country. The city has a long history. Poggio, the hill on which Urbino is located, has been inhabited since prehistoric times. In the era of Ancient Rome, Urbino was a fortified city, it was of great strategic importance, it was surrounded by solid walls. In December 538, the Byzantine general Belisario captured the city. Under the rule of the Byzantines, Urbino, together with Fossombrone, Iesi, Kalgli and Gubbio, was included in the Pentapolis (Pentapolis) of Andonaria. AT568 saw the first invasion of the Lombards, which continued until the end of the century.
In 733, Carlo Magno (King of the Franks Charlemagne) came to Italy after the defeat of the Lombard Kingdom and gave Urbino to the Church. At the time, the city was an important bishopric, although the actual establishment of the diocese dates back to 313. In terms of subsequent centuries, the history of the city and the local church is known in fragments.
With Federico Maria, grandson of Guidobaldo, the feudal power of the della Rovera family began, which lasted until 1631, when, with the death of Francesco Maria II, the duchy was transferred to the Church. With the end of the power of della Rovere, countless works of art were transferred to Florence and Rome, among other things, the famous library of Federico was also transferred.
In 1155 one of the representatives of the Montefeltro, a family of Germanic origin, was appointed imperial vicar in Urbino. In 1234, the Buonconte family took over.
The heyday of the city began under Erle Antonio, then his son, Guidantonio, increased the level of prosperity of the city. After the death of his 17-year-old son as a result of a conspiracy, Federico became the head of the city (mid-15th century), from which the most magnificent period of Urbino began, evidence of the magnificence, perfection and greatness of that time remained in the ducal palace.
Federico was succeeded by his son Guidobaldo, he died in 1508 at the age of 36, leaving no heirs. His contribution to the development of the city were two important institutions: in 1506 he created the Council of Physicians, which later becamethe basis of the University of Montefeltro, and a year later founded the Musical Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament (Della Cappella Musicale Del Santissimo Sacramento).
Urbino (Italy) is rightfully considered the center of mathematics and art of the Renaissance, it was the birthplace of great and talented personalities. Among them were:
- Raphael Santi (1483 - 1551), one of the greatest artists;
- Donato Bramante (1444 - 1514), architectural genius;
- Girolamo Genga (1476 - 1551), painter, sculptor and architect;
- Federico Barocci (1534 - 1612), painter;
- Federico Brandani (1525 - 1575), sculptor;
- Timoteo Viti (1469 - 1523), painter;
- Nicola da Urbino (1480 - 1540/1547), painter;
- Comandino Federico (1506 - 1575), humanist, physician and mathematician.
Historic Center
This part of the city of Urbino in Italy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covers an area of just over one square kilometer. The center is located between the walls of the bastion and is completely built of baked bricks. It has an elongated diamond shape and is divided into parts by main and almost perpendicular streets (Via Mazzini and Via Cesare Battisti on the one hand, Via Raffaello and Via Veneto on the other), which meet in the main square (Piazza della Repubblica). From numerous photos of Urbino (Italy), you can appreciate the beauty of the historical center.
Raphael House Museum
The house, built in the fifteenth century, was bought in 1460 by Raphael's father, Giovanni Santi (1435 - 1494), a humanist, poet and artist who servedat the court of Federico da Montefeltro. Giovanni organized his own workshop, where Rafael mastered all the subtleties of art.
Acquired in 1635 by the architect Urbino Muzio Oddi in 1873, the house passed to the Raffaele Academy, founded in 1869 by Pompeo Gherardi. The Academy was engaged in various studies related to the personality of the great painter. This is one of the iconic sights of Urbino in Italy.
On the ground floor there is a large room with a coffered ceiling containing the Annunciation, a painting by Giovanni Santi, as well as copies of two nineteenth-century works by Raphael: the Madonna della Segiola and the Vision of Ezekiel.
In a small adjacent room, considered the birthplace of the painter, there is a fresco "Madonna and Child" by Giovanni Santi, which critics now attribute to the young Raphael. Of particular interest is a drawing attributed to Bramante (1444 - 1514) and a collection of Renaissance pottery.
Manuscripts, rare editions, coins, portraits are preserved on the second floor: typical examples of the culture of the nineteenth century.
Church of San Bernardino
It was built after the death of Federico da Montefeltro, approximately from 1482 to 1491, as a burial place for himself and his descendants (Mausoleum of the Duchy). The design and subsequent implementation of the work is attributed to the ducal architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini (who created it with the help of the young and promising Donato Bramante). The building is in the style typical of the Urbino Renaissance.
Bthe nave has cenotaphs (tombstones in a place where there are no remains; symbolic graves) of Dukes Federico and Guidobaldo of Montefeltro, facing each other: these two baroque monuments were erected after their death (1620). The marble busts of the two dukes are attributed to Girolamo Campagna.
The right niche is decorated with frescoes from 1642. The choir has a nineteenth-century painting with the Madonna and Child, Saint Bernardine (Bernardino), Saint Jacob (Giacomo) and two angels.
Spiral ramp (Rampa Elicoidale)
This ramp was built in the 1400s by Duke Federico di Montefeltro so that he could ride a horse all the way to his Palace. Restored by the architect Giancarlo De Carlo, it can now be used by anyone who wants to leave the lowlands of Piazza Mertatale and find themselves in the center of Urbino, right where the Raffaele Theater is located.
Albornoz Fortress
La Fortezza or Rocca Albornóz is a fortified building built on the highest point of Monte di Sergio in Urbino. It owes its name to Cardinal Albornoz, who is traditionally credited with its construction, although some scholars believe that it was built by his successor, the Spanish Cardinal Grimbord. This is one of the significant sights of Urbino in Italy.
The fortress was built in the second half of the fourteenth century to protect the city, since the existing one was no longer considered suitable for the city.
Over the centuries, it has been destroyed and reconstructed; at the beginning of the 16th century, when the walls were builtDella Rovere, the fortress was connected to the city walls, and in 1673 the fortress was transferred to the Carmelites from a nearby monastery, which now houses the Academy of Fine Arts.
In 1799, during the Napoleonic era, the fortress was rebuilt for military purposes, and in subsequent years it became the property of the Carmelites.
The fortress is built entirely of bricks and has a rectangular structure with two semi-circular towers and bastions.
Today, Albornoz Fortress is part of the Bella Gerit Museum, an archaeological site and storage site for military equipment used between 1300 and 1500.
Due to its elevated position, the fortress offers panoramic views of the city of Urbino and the surrounding area.
San Giovanni Oratorio
It is one of the most outstanding monuments of the city of Urbino thanks to the painting of its walls by the Salimbeni brothers in the 15th century. It is one of the most remarkable examples of Gothic in the Marche region.
The oratorio dates back to 1365 and was originally housed in a hospital for pilgrims, the sick and the penitent, such as Blessed Pietro Spagnoli, whose remains were buried under the high altar.
The church retains its original structure with a wooden ceiling, the façade was restored in 1900 by the designer Diomede Catalucci. The frescoes on the walls amaze with their painting technique, refinement in the use of colors and attention to detail. The fresco cycle is the most complete work of the artists of the seventeenthcentury: along the right wall there are scenes that illustrate the life of St. John the Baptist; the apsidal wall is a crucifixion scene that dates from 1416; on the left - "Madonna of Humility". Other frescoes belong to different authors. Among them, probably Antonio Alberti da Ferrara (1390 / 1400-1449)
National Gallery Marche
This Urbino landmark is located in Palazzo Ducale, a fifteenth-century princely residence commissioned by Duke Federico da Montefeltro. "A building in the shape of a city", as Baldassar Castiglione called it, which reflects the militant and at the same time enlightened and cultured personality of its lord.
The architects working on the construction were Luciano Lorana (1420 - 1479), author of the magnificent courtyard and facade between two thin turrets, and Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439 - 1502), who designed the main, so-called "two-door" facade.
In 1861, the basis of an art gallery was created, which is considered one of the most valuable art collections in Italy. The main collection of the museum was created in 1912 under the direction of Lionello Venturi with the aim of collecting and preserving art objects from all over the region. Here are stored such masterpieces as "The Desecration of the Guests" by Paolo Uccello (1397 - 1475), "The Last Supper" and "Resurrection" by Titian (1487/88 - 1576), "Assumption of the Virgin" by Federico Barocchi (1535 - 1612); "The Virgin and Child and St. French Roman" Orazio Gentileschi (1563 - 1638 or 46). The Volponi collection was recently acquired, donated byby a writer from Urbino, which includes paintings from the Bolognese period of the fourteenth century and paintings from the seventeenth century. Also in the museum are collections of drawings and engravings, ceramics and majolica of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and a mysterious picture of an ideal city (1480). On numerous photos of Urbino you can see different types of gallery.
Oratorio San Giuseppe
The building is home to the brotherhood of the same name, founded in the early 16th century by the Franciscan priest Gerolamo Recalci da Verona. Very close to this brotherhood was the noble family of Albans, in particular Pope Clement XI and Cardinal Annibal Albani, who contributed to the transformation of Urbino into one of the richest cities.
The church itself is a single rectangular hall; it was decorated with frescoes on the walls, in the crypt and in the apse, painted by the city painter Carlo Roncalli, the author of four large canvases on the side walls depicting the main moments of the life of St. Joseph. Above the altar is a large marble shrine donated by Pope Clement XI in 1732, with two columns in red porphyry emerging from the Pantheon, and in the center is a white marble statue of Saint Joseph by Giuseppe Lironi of Como from the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. Inside is a valuable work by the city sculptor Federico Brandani depicting the birth of Jesus Christ, created between 1545 and 1550.
Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
This cathedral was erected in Urbino (Italy) by Bishop Maynard in 1063 and is dedicated to the AssumptionVirgin Mary. In the fifteenth century, the building was rebuilt according to the will of Federico da Montefeltro. The project was probably designed by Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Only at the end of the eighteenth century did the cathedral receive its final neoclassical appearance, designed by the architect Giuseppe Valadier. The bell tower was also built during this period. Behind the facade are seven statues of saints, among which we can see Saint San Crescentino, the patron saint of the city.
The Diocesan Museum, dedicated to the Albani family, was created on the side of the ancient sacristies in recognition of the many contributions to the cathedral. It houses the most varied liturgical furnishings, including the treasures of the Duomo and furniture donated by Pope Clement XI. There are sculptures by Giovanni Bandini in the crypt of the cathedral.
Monument to Raphael
The work was created by the Turin sculptor Luigi Belli (1896-1897). The bronze statue of the artist, with a palette and brushes in his hand, stands on a high base, where the allegorical figures of the Genius and the Renaissance are located below. There are also two bas-reliefs depicting the artist. On the bronze medallions are portraits of artists - his contemporaries: Bramante, Viti, Perugino, Giovanni da Udine, Perin del Vage, Giulio Romano, Marcantonio Raimondi.
Egyptian obelisk
As a copy of the monument located in Piazza Minerva in Rome, the Egyptian obelisk of Urbino (Italy) is one of twelve original examples placed throughout the country. Helocated in the city center, on Piazza Rinascimento, between Palazzo Ducale and the beautiful church of San Domenico.
The obelisk, whose origin dates back to the 6th century BC, was previously located near the city of Sais. In the first century AD, it was found at Campo Marzio in Rome, in the Temple of Isis. When in 391 Emperor Theodosius abolished pagan cults, the obelisk disappeared. The little Egyptian miracle only reappeared in the eighteenth century, when mankind became interested in ancient civilizations again.
The obelisk appeared in Urbino thanks to Cardinal Albani, who donated it to the city. The monument consists of five blocks placed on a stone pedestal, on the edge of which there is the coat of arms of the Albani family. The small cross located on top of the structure contains a fragment of the True Cross of Christ. True or not, this is still a hypothesis and a reason for reflection.
Tourist information
Urbino offers accommodation in comfortable hotels.
Located in a newly built villa in the hills, B&B La Poiana is an oasis of peace and tranquility.
La Casetta del Borgo is a charming cottage in a small village a short walk from Urbino. Hotel accommodation includes breakfast or accommodation for a minimum of 3 nights.
Nestled between the green hills surrounding Urbino, Mamiani Hotel & Ki Spa is just 1.5 km from the city centre. It consists of 62 rooms, all with air conditioning, radio, telephone, minibar,safe, cable TV and free Wi-Fi. There are two large free parking spaces in front of the building. The hotel has its own spa.
Girfalco Country House is a small hotel housed in an old farmhouse nestled in the green hills of Montefeltro. All rooms are comfortable, each has a separate entrance and bathroom. Perfect for couples of all ages who want a holiday away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
While walking around the city, you will definitely want to eat. There are a lot of different cafes and restaurants in the city.
Tartufi Antiche Bonta serves Italian cuisine, delicacies such as truffles, wine bar.
La Casa Dei Cuochi specializes in Italian cuisine, pizza and BBQ.
Amici Miei Ristorante Pizzeria invites visitors to try pizza. As well as Italian cuisine, seafood, Mediterranean cuisine and vegetarian options.
Piadineria L'Aquilone and Antica osteria da la Stella specialize in traditional Italian dishes, Mediterranean cuisine and fast food. Vegetarian options are also available at the first location.
According to tourists, Urbino is a wonderful place in Italy that will appeal to fans of the Renaissance. The city is equipped for tourist visits, so there will be no problems with accommodation and food.
