Passion, very much characterises i Eugubini
by Trekki
soon This is more for myself to watch and learn so that from next time on I'll be able to participate in the group dancing of e.g. Funiculi, funicula. This year I only stood beside and watched with a heart full of joy about these wonderful people with their absolute contagious joy for life - see my four videos of festa following Torneo dei Quartieri :-)
More to watch and learn:
Tarantella,
another Tarantella.
And just to listen:
O surdato 'nnammurato.
:-) My god.... I am so homesick, it really hurts....
Quartiere San Giuliano
by Trekki
San Giuliano is east of San Martino, both are divided only by the riverbed of Camignano (dry in summer). Its symbol is the falcon and its main church is not San Giovanni Battista (“Don Matteo’s church”) but the tiny chiesa San Giuliano next to Palazzo Bargello in Via Consoli. It is also seat of the Università dei Sarti, the dressmakers or tailors. Fontana dei Matti’s, the famous fountain, name, by the way, is Fonte di San Giuliano. The best view over San Giuliano is from the balcony of Palazzo dei Consoli (see photo). Famous buildings in this quartiere are of course Palazzo dei Consoli and Palazzo Bargello, Casa Sant’Ubaldo in Via Baldassini below Piazza Grande, the park Ranghiasci and chiesa San Giovanni Battista.
© Ingrid D., December 2009 (just in case, RS or others come along and think they can steal texts).
You will always know what time it is :-)
by Trekki
One of the fascinating traditions in Gubbio, apart from the societies is the clock bells. No, now I do not refer to il Campanone, but to the bells which announce the time. Anytime they ring it is obvious which time it is. At 4:45 p.m. (16:45) for example they will chime with three high pitched tones announcing 3x15 minutes, followed by sixteen low pitched tones for 4 o’clock. In practice this means that the bells chime every fifteen minutes. I have yet to find out which one rings the hours but the quarter of the hours are being rung by la Mezzana, the one in Palazzo dei Consoli’s torretta (note that it is not called campanile), the one which faces the valley.
Oh, consequently this means that everyone with a light sleep MUST bring earplugs. The bells are ringing in Gubbio literally since ages and will do so until the world collapses. No need to scream like this idiot tourist did in Mezzema, Liguria. No one will ever stop Gubbio's bells ringing because of a stupid tourist complaints. Which is good. These silly tourists should stay at home since they never ever get to the point of different countries – different customs.
Update, August 2010:
During my recent visit in Gubbio I was almost shocked to death when I didn't hear my beloved bells ringing the time..... I still don't know what happened, but I realised that I couldn't sleep well without listening to its sound... It was NOT a question of a ranting tourist, he/she would NOT have survived this (and I would have ended up in jail) but obviously a mechanism problem. The campanari have repaired it when they went up to ring the Campanone on August 14 in the evening. But 2 days later it was defunctioning again. Oh my....
Whatever it was - in case the officials of Gubbio read this: bring this bell back to life!!!!!! PLEASE!!!
Update, December 2010:
The bells are ringing again :-) Of course already earlier than November, but I was happy to hear them ringing in their usual 15 minute schedule when I was in Gubbio the weekend of November 6/7.
© Ingrid D., December 2009 (just in case, RS or others come along and think they can steal texts).
Endless hiking, hang-gliding and caves
by Trekki
Gubbio has a prime location at the western slopes of Appennine Mountains (Appennine centrale to be precise). This makes the region around it a prime hiking location. The hike up to Basilica Sant’Ubaldo is only one of the possibilities. Once up there one can hike further uphill to the Roca on top of Monte Ingino and from there in a circle southward along the tiny Madonna del Sasso church. Finishing point is Gubbio’s cemetery in the south. Or there is Bottaccione Gorge, which also has a high relevance in earth history. Walter Alvarez and his father found a very high concentration of Iridium here and have added this to their theory of Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event. The layer is visible during a hike in this valley. Then there is Monte Foce, the other mountain top north of Gubbio (the one with the “bold” top. On the way up there is Eremo di Sant’Ambrogio which can be visited. Further up the road of Bottaccione Gorge is Scheggia and from there, the endless Monte Cucco stretches out from northwest to southeast. This region has short hikes and longer ones according to a little booklet I picked up at the truffles fair and offers majestic landscapes and wildlife.
In addition to hiking, the region northeast of Gubbio has a vast cave system, though many are accessible only with guided tours by speleologists. Their centre is in Costacciaro at the road SR3 (southeast of Scheggia).
Hang-gliding, horse riding, canyoning, cross-country skiing in winter – you name it. I find it only sad that this nature and outdoor paradise is not really promoted more in Gubbio (in the city I mean, the website does promote it). They could attract much more visitors. But… you never know, maybe one day they do.
Ah, one other very important note about hiking. The whole world seems to be crazy about Camino de Santiago. I have no idea who is behind this clever marketing strategy, but for the ones who have this on their list of things to do before they die no other pilgrimage seems to exist. Let me tell you that these do exist. In Umbria, especially between Gubbio and Assisi there is the 50 km long part of Sentiero Francescano or San Francesco della Pace, in the footsteps of San Francesco (St. Francis). It leads along the Abbazia Vallingegno (which I have described in the off path section). Ah, good to know that Gubbio has a CAI section (Italy Alpine Club). They will get a new member in the future :-) In addition there is this incredible nature of Alto Chiascio (see link in this tip’s website section). An excellent map of Gubbio’s mountains is available at Libreria Pienini, issued by CAI, Gubbio section. It has a scale of 1:25.000, costs 6 Euro and has all 24 hiking trails, which have already been set up with red-white markers.
On the website EveryTrail.com, which is connected to Google Earth, user Die972 has marked a trail called Colli di Gubbio , hills of Gubbio. The website is set up as a map (with contour lines and video-like trail statistics, distance and altimeter chart). © Ingrid D., November 2009 (just in case, RickS or others come along and think they can steal texts), update July 2010.
Marvellous frescoes, chiesa Sant’Agostino
by Trekki
The church next to the permanent Christmas scene is also well worth a visit. Sant’Agostino is a church of the order which was founded by St. Augustine of Hippone, a northern African priest of 4/5th century. According to what I have read about him on Wikipedia, he was famous but also quite controversal. For more than 30 years until his death he was bishop in Annaba, Algeria, formerly called Hippo Regius, then Hippone (thus his name). The church is rather simple but decorated with marvellous frescoes, many of them although no longer in place in the main nave. But the artist is quite known in Gubbio: Ottaviano Nelli and his students have painted the interior in 15th century. I liked the little ornament at the entrance door (photo 4) and learned later that the pierced heart is one of St. Augustine’s attributes. Oh, and especially Richie might like him, because St. Augustine is patron of the brewers :-)
The church is open daily and can be visited, ecept during church service.
Chiesa Sant’Agostino on Google Maps.
© Ingrid D., December 2009 (just in case, RS or others come along and think they can steal texts). Update: April 2010: correct name of St. Augustine - thanks Jean-Louis :-)
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Ceri Mezzani, Sant'Antonio
Gubbio's oldest balestriere shoots
Monte Cucco
Sometimes... also the big one is closed :)
