The walk begins in Piazza dei Quaranta Martire, which is the point of entry for most visitors to Gubbio.  This has been the city’s market square since the Middle Ages.  Following the unification of Italy in 1860, it was named for King Victor Emanuel II (1861-78).   The piazza was given its present name after the Second World War to honour 40 citizens who had been executed by the Germans in 1944.  (They are buried in a mausoleum that is visited in Walk II.)

Turn right along Via Ambrogio Piccardi and right again along Via dei Battilana: this second street is named for the woolworkers’ guild, which owned the Loggia dei Tiratori.  Take a short detour by turning right at the end (along Stretta del Fondaccio) to the back of the Loggia dei Tiratori and the Camignano torrent. 

An ancient brick structure that has been excavated under the loggia (in the premises of what is now the Unicredit Banca) seems to have been associated with this stream, albeit that its precise function is unclear (city gate, bridge, channelling structure?).  A cippus (1st century BC) that remains in situ on the right (lower) bank of the Camignano (now in the basement of the Unicredit Banca) contained the inscription (EDR 158581) “F(ines) P(ublici)”, which dates to the period 70 - 30 BC.  This suggests that the torrent marked the southern (lower) boundary of the urban settlement at this time.  (You can ask at the bank to see this excavated area and the inscription - I have picked out the inscription on the cippus for clarity).

This church was probably built in the 13th century on a site that was within a circuit of walls that had existed from at least 921.  This enclosure probably contained:

1. ✴the first Duomo of San Mariano, the Canonica and an associated hospice; and
   

2. ✴the “plebem ... S. Johannis de civitate” (parish church of St John), which was the predecessor of the current church and which was was documented as a possession of the canons of San Mariano in 1137.
   

Walk to the far end of the piazza, on the bank of the Camignano torrent, and look back at San Giovanni Battista.  You can now get an idea of the extent of this 10th century episcopal enclosure:

1. ✴its lower boundary was probably marked by the Camignano behind you;
   

2. ✴it was probably bounded on the left by Via Piccardi (visited above);
   

3. ✴its upper boundary coincided with Via dei Consoli (on the far side of Palazzo dei Consoli, which you can clearly see in front of you); and
   

4. ✴it was probably bounded on the right by Via della Repubblica (below).
   

As you will see below, the ancient city of Ikuvina had probably extended down the slope of Monte Ingino as far as  Via dei Consoli.  The episcopal enclosure thus occupied an area below this, which had been settled by the 1st century BC.

The piazza, which was at the heart of the medieval city, took on its present appearance in 1870.  This urban development involved the demolition of a mill on the Camignano, “posto sotto la pieve di San Giovanni” (below San Giovanni) that St Ubaldus had given to the canons of San Mariano in 1114. 

Leave the piazza along Via ? to the right, and continue to the junction with Via della Repubblica.  The Porta San Giovanni, a gate in the walls surrounding the old Duomo, probably stood to your right.  This can be deduced from a document of 1274 records a road that  left the enclosure “ad portam sancti Johannis” and continued to the Camignano.  Both the gate and the walls were subsequently demolished, probably soon after this document was written.

Takes a short detour by turning right , to see:

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   ✴Palazzo della Porta, at number 16 on the right; and
   

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   ✴San Francesco della Pace opposite.
   

The massive substructure (1321) that supports the Piazza della Signoria (below) is opposite. 

                                        Palazzo del Podestà                                           Palazzo dei Consoli

Continue to the magnificent pensile Piazza della Signoria on the right, which began to take shape in 1321, when the Consiglio Generale (ruling council) of Gubbio resolved to build two new public palace shere:

1. ✴Palazzo dei Consoli on the right houses the Museo Civico and the Pinacoteca Civica; and
   

2. ✴Palazzo del Podestà (later del Pretorio) is still used as the town hall.
   

Palazzo Ranghiasci-Brancaleone is on the opposite side of Via dei Consoli: the present neo-classical facade (1841) masks a number of much earlier structures that were consolidated to form the palace.

Continue ahead, along what is now Via XX Settembre to the junction with Via Mastro Giorgio on the right.  The house on the right just after Albergo Bosone apparently belonged to Ottaviano Nelli: a fresco (15th century) of the Coronation of the Virgin that is attributed to him once occupied the aedicule on its wall.

Continue along Via XX Settembre, past two interesting monuments on the left:

1. ✴the Collegiata di Santa Cristina, at number 35; and
   

2. ✴the long facade of the Conservatorio delle Orfanelle di Gubbio, beyond it.
   

Complete the circuit around the complex of San Marziale by turning left along the side of the church (Via Appennino) and left again along Via del Monte, to the junction with Via Colomboni. 

Continue along Via del Monte, past the Dominican nunnery of Sant’ Antonio da Padova (mentioned below) at number 4.   The road continues past the orchard of the Duomo and the apse of the church on the left.  A fork in the road to the right leads to Porat Sant’ Ubaldo (visited in Walk II), which is the highest point of the walled city.

Continue (steeply downhill) along the left wall of the Duomo and into the small piazza in front of its facade.  From ca. 1188, when the “new” Duomo and adjacent Canonica were built here, this was the “novam civitatem” or new civic centre of Gubbio.  A document of 1203 was notarised “sub tracandam palatii communis Eugubini” ( under the covered loggia of Palazzo Comunale) here.   Both the civic and ecclesiastical buildings opened onto the new “platea communis”, which was bounded by the new city wall and a gate, the Porta Sant’ Agnese (named for the nunnery outside the walls).  This gate, which was closed in ca. 1480, stood on or near the site of the Ikuvine Porta Trebulana,which probably marked the upper limit of the ancient city.

The old civic centre became redundant when the present public buildings were built, following a decision taken in 1321 (see above).  The space in front of the Duomo was transformed in ca, 1476, when Palazzo Ducale was built opposite: the lovely inner courtyard of this palace stands on the site of the old civic square and excavations under it have revealed the remains of the old civic buildings. 

Continue steeply down what is now Via Sant‘ Ubaldo to the point at which it turns through  90° to become Via Ducale:

1. ✴Palazzo dei Canonici on the left of Via Ducal now houses the Museo Diocesano;  
   

2. ✴the vaulted street known as the  Voltone on the right runs under Palazzo Ducale, and the openings in the left lead to its hanging gardens (which contain a welcome café). 
   

The oval marked out by four marble slabs in the pavement in front of the palace is known as il Pietrone.  The bier on which the statue of the dead Christ that carried during the annual Good Friday procession is laid here for a few moments, repeating a tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages.  Tradition has it that these slabs featured in the ancient rites of urban purification that are described in the Iguvine Tables.

On leaving the church, take a short detour by turning right along Via Cavour to see Palazzo Beni, he first palace on the left.

Walk back  across Piazza San Martino, and along Via Nicolò Vantaggi (previously Via Gabrielli):

1. ✴Palazzo Benveduti, at number 24 on the left, has a memorial on its wall to the anarchist Pietro Gori.  This quotes from his poem “Addio a Lugano” (Farewell to Lugano), which relates to his period of exile in Switzerland in 1895.
   

2. ✴Palazzo Gabrielli, further along at number 25, has the tallest surviving medieval tower in Gubbio).
   

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   ✴The remains  of the Fonte di San Verecondo (originally Fonte di Ser Baglioni) are opposite: this fountain was named for the Ospedale di San Verecondo, which was documented “iuxta Fontem ser Baglionis” in the 14th century, and which belonged to the Abbazia di San Verecondo di Vallingegno.
   

Turn right along Vicolo Onedei and right again along Via del Camignano, along the right bank of the Camignano torrent.  Continue to the next bridge, Ponte San Martino, the junction with Via dei Consoli.  As noted above, this road probably follows the line of the lower boundary of the ancient city.  The bridge here was certainly in existence in Roman times and perhaps even earlier, albeit that it was rebuilt in the Middle Ages. 

Walk across the facade of this church and continue anti-clockwise round the piazza.  The public gardens on your left were laid out in 1881.  The large complex on your right houses the ex-hospital, which was developed in two phases:

1. ✴the Infermeria Nuova (1628), which extends from the present Farmacia Comunale to the “Speziaria” (old apothecary) with its distinctive portal; and
   

2. ✴the Ospedale Grande (1746-66), which has its facade in Via degli Ortacci.
   

Continue to the junction with Via Cairoli and Via Reposati. 

[A fresco (15th century) of the Annunciation that is attributed to Ottaviano Nelli survives in a private house in via Mazzatinti/ via Reposati.  A fragment of a figure of St Louis of Toulouse with the same attribution, which was detached from this house in 1898, passed to the Perkins Collection and is now in the deposit of the Galleria Nazionale, Perugia]

Take a short detour along Via Cairoli:

1. ✴The ex-Seminary is on the right, before the junction with Via Gioia: it moved here in 1638 to what had been the site of the Monastero di Sant’ Elisabetta.
   

2. ✴The church of San Filippo Neri is further along on the right, just after the junction.
   

[Centro Pastorale San Filippo: 18 via Cairoli - Piccola Accoglienza Gubbio - a service for tourists and pilgrims]

Retrace your steps,  passing the ex- Monastero di Santo Spirito on the right.  The now the  closed Cinema Italia occupies the ex-church and the Post Office beyond it is in part of the ex-nunnery.  [The complex also houses the Centro Convegni Santo Spirito, which has its entrance in Via Gioia ??].  Walk into the car park in Piazza Arturo Frondizi on the right (at the junction) to see the back of the complex.  The nuns’ chapel, the Cappella del Rosario, is at the far left: its lovely frescoes can be seen through the glass door.  (They were in restoration at the time of my visit in April 2014, but visible behind the scaffolding.

The piazza is named for Arturo Frondizi, who was born in Argentina to parents from Gubbio and who was President of Argentina in 1958-62.  He was made an honorary citizen of Gubbio in 1960 and the square was named for him 1999 on the 90th anniversary of his birth.  (He died in 1995).

Turn left along Via Reposati to Via Falcucci at the end.  The Fonte di San Pietro (1536, restored in the 17th century), which is immediately in front of you, is fed by water that is carried from the Cavarello Torrent by the so-called Acquedotto Minore.   The relief (1955) of the Madonna and Child that decorates it is by Antonio Maria Rossi.

Turn left along Via Savelli della Porta, to see:

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   ✴San Giovanni Decollato, immediately on the left;
   

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   ✴Santa Maria Nuova further along on the left, with its facade in Via Nelli; and
   

1. ✴Palazzo Marini, just across Via Nelli. 
   

Continue to the junction with Via Francesco Fabiani.   Palazzo Fonti stands at this junction, with its main entrance at number ???, with its chapel, the  Cappella di San Francesco di Paola, behind it in Via Fabiani.   This is now the headquarters of the Famiglia dei Santantoniari.

Continue past Piazza Sant’ Antonio on the left.  This was an important civic square, particularly during the period in which Gubbio was part of the Duchy of Urbino.   The church of Sant’ Antonio Abate, which was documented here in 1359, was demolished in 1549 with the intention of rebuilding it and developing the piazza.  The current loggia was built around the piazza soon after, but the rest of the project was subsequently abandoned.   This loggia forms the backdrop of this fresco (1652-4) by Francesco Allegrini above, which is in the Cappella del SS Sacramento of the Duomo: it depicts the procession in which Bishop Alessandro Sperelli translated of the relics of St John of Lodi to a new altar in the Duomo.

Turn left along Via della Reppublica into Piazza 40 Martiri, where the walk ends.