Gubbio

The Fortress

Gubbio’s system of defenses included two fortresses on the summit of Mount Ingino reached by following the road which leads away from opposite the side entrance to the Cloister of the Basilica of St. Ubaldo,….arriving on the slopes facing towards the Adriatic, you discover a landscape of incomparable grandeur and sublimity…..The first of the two fortresses is the more noticeable due to the size of the remaining walls. Nearby is erected the vast metal scaffold which supports the star above the largest Christmas tree in the world (Guinness Book of Records 1991). Little remains of the other fortress but recent excavations have revealed traces of a Bronze Age settlement. In accordance with the 14th century Town Statute, the fortresses had a sizeable military garrison and records provide us with information about the different lords of the castle and the respective sums they spent on the upkeep of the fortresses. It was due to their presence on this site that the townspeople decided to transfer the body of St. Ubaldo to the top of Mount Ingino in the shadow of his two strongholds.