Urbino's Palace: Fit for a Duke
by Rick Steves
Famous as the hometown of the artist Raphael and architect Donato Bramante, the hilltown of Urbino in central Italy actually owes much of its current appeal to the Duke of Montefeltro. Apart from its steep-stepped, medieval ambience, 90 percent of Urbino's sightseeing thrills are in the Ducal Palace, the home of its long-gone city father.
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| With a backdrop of the Ducal Palace and a splash of sunshine, Urbino is just right for strolling. |
A hired gun with a private army, the Duke of Montefeltro (1422-1482) was expert at fighting other peoples' wars — and he made a fortune doing it. He lost an eye and a hunk of his nose in action and consequently is portrayed only in profile, with his...relatively...good side showing. Undeterred, he made his palace the "dwelling place of the Muses" and attracted the artists of his day — Piero della Francesca, Paolo Uccello, and Raphael's papa, Giovanni Santi — to this remote cradle of Humanism high on a hill.
The Ducal Palace is a sprawling, fascinating place. While the rooms are fairly bare, it's a fitting monument to the man who brought the Renaissance to his small town.
A good visit to the palace is simple, consisting of a walk through the courtyard, the library, the basement, and the first floor. (The second floor is filled with easy-to-skip porcelain and paintings.)
The palace was built in the mid-1400s, and its courtyard is exuberantly Renaissance in its flavor. The courtyard bows up — designed to collect rainwater and help power the place's fancy plumbing system.
Inside, the Duke's library once housed his collection of over 2,000 books. (They were taken to the Vatican when the Pope took over Urbino.) Today the library displays the travertine (soft marble) relief that used to decorate the palace exterior with scenes of work and war. The Duke's eagle-in-the-sun emblem on the ceiling shows how he brought light and enlightenment to his realm.
While a wander through the basement may not sound exciting, it is. There for your inspection are bits of exposed plumbing, a huge cistern-like refrigerator (where snow was packed each winter), and a giant stable with a clever horse-pie disposal system.
On the first floor, you'll find a fireplace with an orgy of Greek-inspired decoration typical of the Renaissance, celebrating the rebirth of the cultural greatness Europe hadn't seen since the glory days of ancient Greece and Rome. You'll also see the highlight of the palace — the duke's richly paneled study. It's filled with exquisitely inlaid images, all displaying a mastery of perspective. Here, the Duke shared his passions: art, culture, religion, war, love, music, and birds.
In the Duke's bedroom, the inlaid door shows a medieval fortress facing a Renaissance palazzo — an allegory of the darkness of war and the wide open sea of enlightenment and good and cultured living.
End your day at the Ducal Palace in a room with a serious view. From room 28, gaze over the houses scattered below and to the grassy hill topped by Urbino's scenic fortress. It's just the spot for a duke to sit and savor victories past.
Visiting the Ducal Palace: €4, open Tue–Sun 8:30–19:15, Mon 8:30–14:00, last entry is 1 hour before closing, tel. 0722-377-483.
Sleeping in Urbino
(€1 = about $1.20, country code: 39)
The TI has a line on lots of local families renting rooms. Otherwise, Urbino's accommodations scene is limited to a few comfortable, expensive hotels.
Albergo San Domenico is a four-star place across from the Ducal Palace with 31 spacious, air-conditioned rooms, offering all of the modern comforts and none of the traditional character (Db-€109-188, breakfast-€11, convenient parking-€8/day, Piazza Rinascimento 3, tel. 0722-2626, fax 0722-2727, www.viphotels.it, sandomenico@viphotels.it).
Hotel Raffaello is a more humble place buried in the back streets, a two-minute walk from the main square (14 newly renovated rooms, Db-€115 with breakfast, air-con, Vicolino S. Margherita 40, tel. 0722-4784, fax 0722-328-540, www.albergoraffaello.com, info@albergoraffaello.com).
Albergo Italia has 43 modern, business-class rooms in the old town (Db-€90, air-con, ride elevator from town entry and walk 100 yards down Corso Garibaldi arcade to Corso Garibaldi 38, tel. 0722-2701, fax 0722-322-664, www.albergo-italia-urbino.it, info@albergo-italia-urbino.com).
Updated for 2007. For lots more information, check out our best-selling Rick Steves' Italy guidebook — or join us on one of our free-spirited tours in Italy.