Gubbio

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Gubbio is a town in Umbria, Italy, in the province of Perugia. It sits in a valley on the slope of Monte Ingino in the Apennines. As of 2025, about 30,300 people live there.

Gubbio has very ancient roots. The area shows evidence of early humans, and the nearby Umbrian town Iguvium is famous for the Iguvine Tablets, a key source on the Umbrian language. In Roman times the town kept its name and had a large theatre.

In the Middle Ages, Gubbio grew powerful and prosperous. A bishop named Ubald helped win a notable victory in 1151, and the town expanded its walls and farmlands in the 13th to 15th centuries. The plague of 1348 reduced the population and changed the local economy. Gubbio later became part of the Papal States and, in 1860, joined the Kingdom of Italy. The town is also known for Renaissance maiolica pottery.

The medieval center is a striking scene of dark grey stone and narrow streets. The Palazzo dei Consoli is a landmark, and many old houses have a second door near the street, a curiosity known as the porta dei morti.

One of Gubbio’s best-known traditions is the Corsa dei Ceri, held on Saint Ubaldo Day, May 15. Three teams race up the hill carrying tall wooden statues of St. Ubald, St. George, and St. Anthony, in yellow, blue, and black. The event blends devotion, history, and local pride and is famous throughout Italy.

Gubbio is also linked to the legend of the Wolf of Gubbio with St. Francis of Assisi, and to science, because near the town the Gubbio layer—a thin iridium-rich rock layer—marks the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods and helped support the meteor-impact theory for the dinosaurs’ extinction.

During the Renaissance Gubbio was a center for maiolica pottery, with notable wares produced there. Today, the town remains a cultural and tourist spot in central Italy and is connected by the Fossato di Vico–Gubbio railway, sitting in the hills between Marche and Tuscany.