Urbino is a municipality in the Italian region of Marche, located southwest of Pesaro. It is a World Heritage Site known for its rich history of Renaissance culture, especially during the time when Federico da Montefeltro, the duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482, supported the arts and learning.

The town is built on a high, sloping hill and still looks much like a medieval town. It is home to the University of Urbino, which was founded in 1506, and serves as the main location for the Archbishop of Urbino. The most famous building in Urbino is the Palazzo Ducale, which was rebuilt by Luciano Laurana.

Geography

The city is located in a hilly area, at the base of the Northern Apennines and the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines. It is in the southern part of Montefeltro, a region that has a medium to high risk of earthquakes. Between 1511 and 1998, about 65 earthquakes occurred in Urbino. One example is April 24, 1741, when the shaking was stronger than level VIII on the Mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake’s center was in Fabriano, where it measured 6.08 on the moment magnitude scale.

History

The originally small Roman town of Urbinum Mataurense, which means "the little city on the river Mataurus," became an important military base during the Gothic Wars in the 6th century. In 538, the town was taken from the Ostrogoths by the Byzantine general Belisarius. The historian Procopius often wrote about this event.

In 754–56, Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, gave Urbino to the Papacy. Later, the town had some independence until about 1200, when it came under the control of the House of Montefeltro. These nobles did not directly rule the town, but they could influence the people to choose them as podestà. In 1213, Bonconte di Montefeltro became podestà, but the people of Urbino rebelled and formed an alliance with Rimini in 1228. They regained independence in 1234. Eventually, the Montefeltro family took control again and ruled until 1508. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Montefeltro lords of Urbino led the Ghibelline faction, which supported the Holy Roman Empire, in the Marche and Romagna regions.

The most famous member of the Montefeltro family was Federico da Montefeltro, who ruled as Duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482. He was a skilled military leader, a talented diplomat, and a supporter of art and literature. He became Duke after a conspiracy and the murder of his brother, Oddantonio, who was disliked for his behavior and heavy taxes.

Federico reorganized the state and redesigned the city to be more comfortable, efficient, and beautiful. At his court, Piero della Francesca studied perspective, Francesco di Giorgio Martini wrote about architecture, and Giovanni Santi, Raphael’s father, wrote about artists of his time. According to Baldassare Castiglione’s Il Cortegiano, published in 1528, the standards of a modern European "gentleman" were influenced by Federico’s court.

In 1502, Cesare Borgia, with the help of his father, Pope Alexander VI, took control of Urbino from Guidobaldo da Montefeltro and Elisabetta Gonzaga. Later, after Pope Leo X tried to appoint a young Medici as Duke, Urbino became part of the Papal States under the Della Rovere family from 1508 to 1631. The Della Rovere family moved their court to Pesaro in 1523, and Urbino began to decline.

In 1626, Pope Urban VIII officially added the Duchy of Urbino to the Papal States as a gift from the last Della Rovere Duke. The city was then governed by a papal legate, usually a high-ranking church official. After the Della Rovere family, the rich art collection from the Ducal Palace, including furniture, was given to Vittoria della Rovere, who married Ferdinand II de Medici. These items later became part of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Works like the diptych of the Dukes of Urbino by Piero della Francesca and the Barberini Ex Tables by Fra Carnevale were moved to Rome, and the library of the Ducal Palace was absorbed by the Vatican Library in 1657.

In 1701, Cardinal Giovan Francesco Albani Urbino became Pope Clement XI. This brought new funding for arts and culture in Urbino. Major renovations were made to buildings like Palazzo Albani, the town hall, the archbishop’s palace, and churches such as San Francesco and San Domenico. The Urbino Cathedral also received improvements. From 1717 to 1718, Urbino hosted the court of James Stuart, an exiled British prince supported by the Pope.

After Pope Clement XI died in 1721, Urbino began a long decline that continues today. The Albani family remained important patrons of the arts until the early 19th century. In 1789, an earthquake damaged the cathedral’s dome, leading to its full renovation.

Between 1797 and 1800, French troops occupied Urbino, as they did much of northern and central Italy. Many artworks were taken to Paris or Milan for the Louvre and Brera galleries.

In 1809, the new Duomo di Urbino was built by architect Giuseppe Valadier. He also restored older buildings from the Montefeltro era, such as the old seminary near the church of St. Sergius.

In 1831, the New Palace of Alban, designed by Peter Ghinelli, was built, creating Piazza della Repubblica and the start of Corso Garibaldi. The Sanzio Theater, completed in 1853, finished the development of Corso Garibaldi with a covered walkway for theatergoers. In 1868, part of the city walls was destroyed to create a customs barrier called Porta Nuova, which connected to Corso Garibaldi. This change incorporated the Pincio area into the city.

These changes made it easier to enter Urbino through Porta Nuova rather than through narrow, winding streets. The new layout reflected ideas from Fulvio Corboli, though the design was mainly done by Vincenzo Ghinelli.

On September 8, 1860, Piedmontese troops entered Urbino from Port Saint Lucia, forcing the last resistance of the papal army under Raphael’s childhood home. The full conquest of the Marche region was completed on September 29 with the capture of Ancona.

Between November 4 and 5, a plebiscite was held to join the Marche to the Kingdom of Sardinia. It passed with 133,783 votes in favor, 260 against, and 1,212 invalid votes. In Urbino, 21,111 voted for, 365 against, and 29 invalid. On November 10, the Marche was included in the Statuto Albertino, and on December 17, a royal decree officially made it part of the kingdom.

The new government began taking over church property, including many valuable items.

Maiolica

The clay soil of Urbino, which is still used today for making bricks, provided materials for many workshops that produced tin-glazed pottery called maiolica. In the 15th century, simple pottery was made in Urbino. After 1520, the Della Rovere dukes, Francesco Maria I della Rovere and his successor Guidobaldo II, supported the industry. This led to the creation of pottery that was sold across Italy. At first, the designs were called istoriato and used engravings inspired by Mannerist painters. Later, the style included light arabesques and grottesche, similar to designs in Raphael’s rooms at the Vatican. Other places in the Duchy of Urbino that made pottery in the 16th century were Gubbio and Castel Durante. The most famous person in Urbino’s maiolica tradition was Guido Fontana, the son of Nicolo Pillipario.

Main attractions

• The main attraction in Urbino is the Palazzo Ducale, which was started in the second half of the 15th century by Federico II da Montefeltro. It contains the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, a major collection of Renaissance paintings.
• Other buildings include Palazzo Albani (17th century), Palazzo Odasi, and Palazzo Passionei.
• The Albornoz Fortress (known locally as La Fortezza) was built by the Papal legate named after him in the 14th century. In 1507–1511, the Della Rovere family added new walls around the city, enclosing the rock where the fortress stands. Today, the area is a public park.
• Raphael’s house and monument were built in 1897.

• Duomo: The Cathedral of Urbino was founded in 1021 on top of a 6th-century religious building. Federico II hired the architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini to design it, the same person who designed the Ducal Palace. Completed in 1604, the Duomo had a simple layout with a central aisle and two side aisles. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1789. The church was rebuilt in the Neoclassical style by Giuseppe Valadier, finishing in 1801. The new church has a tall dome and contains artworks such as St Sebastian (1557), an Assumption (1701) by Maratta, and a famous Last Supper (1603–1608) by Federico Barocci.
• Sant’Agostino: The church was built in the 13th century in the Romanesque style but was changed over time. Its façade has a late-14th-century portal shaped like an almond in the Gothic-Romanesque style, and the interior is richly decorated. It includes a carved choir made for the wedding of Costanzo Sforza and Camilla of Aragona. The bell tower dates to the 15th century.
• San Francesco: This 14th-century church was originally Gothic-Romanesque but was mostly rebuilt in the 18th century, leaving only the portico and bell tower. The interior has a nave and two aisles and contains the Pardon of St Francis, a 15th-century painting by Barocci.
• Oratory of San Giovanni Battista: The oratory has 15th-century frescoes painted by Lorenzo Salimbeni.
• Oratory of San Giuseppe (early 16th century): It consists of two chapels. One chapel has a 16th-century stucco Nativity scene by Federico Brandani, featuring very realistic, life-sized figures.
• San Bernardino: This church is outside the city center and holds the tombs of the Dukes of Urbino.

• Orto Botanico "Pierina Scaramella": A botanical garden.
• University of Urbino: Located in various old and new buildings throughout the city center.

People

• Battista Malatesta (1384–1448), Italian Renaissance poet
• Bernardino Baldi (1553–1617), Italian mathematician and writer
• Clorinda Corradi (1804–1877), Italian opera singer
• Crispino Agostinucci (1797–1856), bishop of Montefeltro
• Donato Bramante (1444–1514), Italian architect and painter. He was born nearby and saw the construction of Laurana's buildings as a young person.
• Elisabetta Gonzaga (1471–1526), Duchess of Urbino
• Federico Barocci (c. 1535–1612), Italian painter
• Federico III da Montefeltro (1422–1482), Duke of Urbino, medieval military leader and patron of the arts
• Federico Zuccari (c. 1540/1541–1609) and Taddeo Zuccari (1529–1566), Italian painters. They were born nearby.
• Fernando Aiuti (1935–2019), Italian immunologist
• Francesco Puccinotti (1794–1872), Italian pathologist
• Giovanni Francesco Albani, Pope Clement XI
• Giovanni Pelingotto (1240–1304), Italian Roman Catholic, member of the Secular Franciscan Order
• Giovanni Santi (1435–1494), Italian painter and decorator, father of Raphael. He was born nearby.
• Guidobaldo II della Rovere (1514–1574), Duke of Urbino. He commissioned the Venus of Urbino painting.
• Marica Branchesi (1977), Italian astrophysicist
• Muzio Oddi (1569–1639), Italian mathematician, architect, military engineer, and writer
• Ottaviano Petrucci (1466–1539), Italian printer, inventor of the music print with movable type. He was born nearby.
• Paolo Volponi (1924–1994), Italian writer and poet
• Polydore Vergil or Virgil (1470–1555), chronicler in England
• Raffaello Carboni (1817–1875), Italian writer
• Raphael Gualazzi (1981), Italian jazz pianist and singer, runner-up in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest
• Raphael (1483–1520), Italian painter. His family's house is a museum-shrine.
• Stefano Sensi (1995), Italian football player
• Umberto Piersanti (1941), Italian poet and writer
• Valentino Rossi (1979), Italian motorcycle racer, multiple MotoGP World Champion
• Domenica Ercolani (1910–2023), Italian supercentenarian, oldest person in Italy during 2022 and 2023.

Twin towns – sister cities

Urbino is twinned with:

• Locarno, Switzerland, since 1976

Urbino also cooperates with:

• Blois, France, since 1999
• Ascoli Piceno and Recanati, Italy, since 2026