Umbria - Italy - page 226

the restaurant a feeling of upscale propriety, as does the topic-length wine list. The
medieval restaurant has five rooms with stone arches, giving it the feeling of a
nobleman's banquet hall.

While it looks like a small bar from the Piazza Boscone, the Osteria de

€€€

(Via Cavour, 15/B; % 075-9222504) has two large underground vaulted
chambers full of happy eaters munching away on the restaurant's specialty, a € 22
sampler platter of fried breads, olives, bruschetta, veggies, and baked cheeses--a
good feast for two. In summer, you can sit at tables in the piazza while locals shout
from windows above and kids play soccer.
WHY YOU'RE HERE: THE TOP SIGHTS & ATTRACTIONS
Every visit to Gubbio should include a walk to the Piazza Grande. This wide,
stone-covered plaza borders the medieval city halls on either side. Backed by the
neoclassical Palazzo Ranghiasci, it opens to a panoramic view of the city and the
Umbrian countryside around it. Travelers can stop to visit the restaurants and
shops surrounding the piazza or sit on the steps and watch the steady stream of
tourists and locals.
The tower of the Palazzo stands almost 60m (200 ft.) above the plaza, which
is itself supported by columns and arches soaring 30m (100 ft.) above the lower
city. Bell-ringers pull the ropes of 2-ton “Il Camanone” (“The Big Bell”) with
their feet--perhaps to avoid becoming hunchbacked?
To learn about the city, walk to the right of the plaza up the fanned steps and

5

Re

( % 075-9274298;
€ 5; winter daily 10am-1pm and 3-5pm, Apr-Oct to 6pm). The same ticket offers
entry to all exhibits in the Civic Museum, which is inside the palace, and allows
re-entry after the 1 to 3pm lunch break. Originally constructed in the 1330s as
the headquarters for the city assembly, the Palace now serves as a multilevel
museum exhibiting art and history of the region. The archaeological exhibit fea-
tures the famed “Eugubian tablets,” discovered in the 15th century, upon which
are carved some of the world's oldest and most detailed descriptions of religious
rites, from at least 200 B . C .
The upper floors of the palace contain an art museum with works by local
son Giorgio Andreoli, who used innovative ceramic techniques in the early 1500s.
His Circe and Fall of the Phaeton can be seen in the Sala della Loggetta. Also check
out the “secret corridor” for bonus views of the city, as well as some of the hidden
workings of the Palace.
Walking from the Piazza Grande, take one of the city's public elevators (!)
off Via XX Settembre to reach the street outside the 13th-century Duomo

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5 to enter the Palazzo dei Consoli (Palace of Consuls) pay

€

5
(9am-6pm). Inside, note the Gubbian-characteristic “wagon vaulted” arches sup-
porting the roof. The bent, curved beams are meant to represent praying hands.
The cool silent interior has pleasant stained-glass windows and frescoes, which are
overshadowed, I think, by the gaudy baroque chapels.
Around the corner from the Duomo is the Museo Diocesano

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(Via Federico
da Montefeltro; % 075-9220904; www.museogubbio.it; € 5), a well-presented col-
lection of art and antique relics in three stories of vaulted stone rooms of a 12th-
century palace. If you want to save the € 5 admission fee, at least walk into the
lower-level bookshop entrance, and poke your head into the side room to see a