History of Urbino

Writing of Urbino 2500 years ago, Servius, in his "Commentary of the 'Aeneid'" (5, 755), wrote: "[...] Et ita sulco ducto loca murorum designabant [...]" - "And thus, tracing the furrow, they indicate the position of walls [...]", and traces of Roman walls are also now preserved in the Lapidary Museum of the “Palazzo Ducale”.

Origins of the name Urbino

It seems that "Urvus" has its roots in the Etruscan word "Uruvo", which means "limit" or "border" and as such comes from the Greek "Ouros" (“border”). Furthermore, we have other important evidence about "Urvus", where they say that the same Servius  "[...] gives us the etymology of 'urbs' ( 'city') from 'urvus' and 'curvus', curvature of the plough [which traces the boundaries of the city] ... so that once was used [the] word 'urvare' (“to surround”) and also 'oburvare' [...]". (See “Giornale Arcadico di scienze Lettere ed Arti” [the “Arcadian Journal of Sciences, Letters and Arts”], 1864, Volume 188, p. 45).

History of Urbino

In Roman times Urbino was a city of great strategic, commercial and religious importance. "Urvinus Mataurense" was situated in an important agricultural district and, for the Romans, "Urvinum" was "the [...] administrative center of these lands, in times of peace, but originally a checkpoint, defended by the  nature and, together,  mighty walls [...]". Moreover, from a religious perspective, at "Urvinum" we find the presence of various "Pontifices," or priests, who, among the Romans, enjoyed  great prestige and importance, because the "Pontifex" "[...] represents the 'hierarchical apex of Roman religious offices and he was involved ... supervision of the state cult and adjust the performance of sacrifices and to connected games [“ludi”], caring relationships between the Gods and  community [...]".

The end of the Roman Empire and the wars between the Goths and Byzantines put in crisis the city, which began its illustrious history from the twelfth century through the Montefeltro.

The golden age of Urbino was the Renaissance, when the city was ruled by the family of Montefeltro. Federico III da Montefeltro was the most illustrious of the family and holds the city's history up to its reputation, ruling Urbino from 1444 to 1482. An illustrious political and munificent patron, Frederick called to Urbino the most prominent figures of the Italian culture of Renaissance, Piero della Francesca (1416-1492), Luciano Laurana (1420-1479), Leon Battista Alberti (1404-72), Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439-1501). And next to them, we mention Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520), born in Urbino. We recall that in Florence, in the "Galleria degli Uffizi", there are portraits of Duke Federico da Montefeltro and his wife Battista Sforza (1446-1472). These portraits, works by Piero della Francesca, probably made around 1465, were located in the Palazzo Ducale. In 1508 the duchy passed to the Della Rovere, who continued to gather around them musicians and set designers, artists and writers; however, the court moved its head office in Pesaro, Urbino thus became marginalised to the coastal centres.

After the great age of the Renaissance, the city had a time of crisis, coinciding with the transition to the Chiesa (1631), but it also had a rapid recovery in the early eighteenth century, following the election to the papacy of Clement XI (1649-1721), son of the princely family Albani. This, promoting enlightened patronage with civil and religious buildings, helped to give new look to the city. The same change in the nineteenth century, which often in other cities created serious damage to the artistic heritage, were carried out in a very careful and prudent manner, with the utmost respect for an urban fabric virtually intact today, making it a tourist and  university town of great international reputation, especially in the field of  Arts.