Urbania is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Pesaro e Urbino The Province of Pesaro and Urbino ( it, Provincia di Pesaro e Urbino, ) is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Pesaro. It also borders the state of San Marino. The province is surrounded by San Marino and Emilia ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region of

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

, located about west of

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

and about southwest of

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche ...

, next to the river

Metauro The Metauro is a river in the Marche region of central Italy. It rises in the Apennine Mountains and runs east for or if the Meta is included as its uppermost reach. The name of the river in Latin is ''Metaurus'' or ''Mataurus.'' In Ancient ...

. Urbania borders the following municipalities: Acqualagna, Apecchio, Cagli, Fermignano, Peglio,

Piobbico Piobbico ( Romagnol: ''Piòbich'') is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region Marche, located about west of Ancona and about southwest of Pesaro. Monte Nerone and the location of the Battle of the Me ...

Sant'Angelo in Vado Sant'Angelo in Vado is a '' comune'' (municipality), site of Ancient Tifernum Metaurense and former bishopric in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the central Italian Adriatic region Marche. Geography It is located about west of Ancona and ab ...

Urbino Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of F ...

. It is a famous

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

and majolica production centre. In recent years, it has become more closely associated with the

Befana In Italian folklore, the Befana () is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to Santa Claus or the Three Magi Kings.Illes, Judika. ''Encyclopedia of Spirits: The ...

folk tradition.

History

Originally known as Castel delle Ripe, it was a free commune of the

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

party. In 1277 it was destroyed by the

Ghibellines The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, r ...

, then rebuilt by the Provençal Guillaume Durand in 1284 and christened Castel Durante. Later it was ruled by the Brancaleoni family. When the latter were ousted, the city offered itself to the Dukes of Urbino, who used the palace in the city as summer residence and had it restored by architects such as

Francesco di Giorgio Martini Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439–1501) was an Italian architect, engineer, painter, sculptor, and writer. As a painter, he belonged to the Sienese School. He was considered a visionary architectural theorist—in Nikolaus Pevsner's terms ...

. The last della Rovere duke,

Francesco Maria II Francesco Maria II della Rovere (20 February 1549 – 23 April 1631) was the last Duke of Urbino. Biography Born at Pesaro, Francesco Maria was the son of Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, Count of Montefeltro and Vittoria Farnes ...

, is buried in the Ducal Palace of Urbania. In 1631 it became part of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

. Five years later its name changed to the current one, in honor of

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

. On 23 January 1944 Urbania was bombed by the Allies, resulting in the deaths of 250 civilians. It was a Sunday so the people had gathered in the town, increasing the number of victims. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Urbania received the Bronze Medal for Military Valour for the deeds of its citizens during the partisan warfare.

Geology

The base of the

Chattian The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale, the younger of two ages or upper of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between . The Chattian is preceded by the Rupelian and is followed by the Aquitanian (the lowest stage ...

international stratigraphical stage is located in Urbania and is marked by a

GSSP A Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) is an internationally agreed upon reference point on a stratigraphic section which defines the lower boundary of a stage on the geologic time scale. The effort to define GSSPs is conducted ...

and commemorative sign which were installed there in May 2017.

Main sights

200px, The main entrance of the Barco Ducale viewed from south west *

Ducal Palace Several palaces are named Ducal Palace (Italian: ''Palazzo Ducale'' ) because it was the seat or residence of a duke. Notable palaces with the name include: France *Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, Dijon * Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine, Nancy * ...

: The palace houses a museum and a library. Among the prize holdings are globes made by the Flemish-born, German natural scientist

Gerardus Mercator Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a 16th-century geographer, cosmographer and cartographer from the County of Flanders. He is most renowned for creating the 1569 world map based on a new projection which represented ...

between 1541 and 1551. * ''Chiesa dei Morti'' (Church of the Dead), with 18 natural

mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...

from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance exposed behind the altar. * The medieval walls. * The 'Barco Ducale' is one kilometer outside of the town. It was erected in 1465. After an earthquake, it was rebuilt between 1741 and 1771. Normally you can not enter the building. * Urbania Cathedral * Santa Caterina * Santa Chiara * Santissimo Crocifisso *

San Francesco San Francesco may refer to: * San Francesco d'Assisi ( 1182–1226), Italian Catholic friar, deacon, philosopher, mystic, and preacher * San Francesco al Campo, a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, Italy Churches in Italy ...

* Santa Maria Maddalena

Population History

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:455 height:303 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:7500 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:100 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:4701 bar:1871 from: 0 till:5028 bar:1881 from: 0 till:5138 bar:1901 from: 0 till:5715 bar:1911 from: 0 till:5941 bar:1921 from: 0 till:6250 bar:1931 from: 0 till:6818 bar:1936 from: 0 till:6739 bar:1951 from: 0 till:7008 bar:1961 from: 0 till:6212 bar:1971 from: 0 till:5869 bar:1981 from: 0 till:6326 bar:1991 from: 0 till:6365 bar:2001 from: 0 till:6643 PlotData= bar:1861 at:4701 fontsize:XS text: 4701 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:5028 fontsize:XS text: 5028 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:5138 fontsize:XS text: 5138 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:5715 fontsize:XS text: 5715 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:5941 fontsize:XS text: 5941 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:6250 fontsize:XS text: 6250 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:6818 fontsize:XS text: 6818 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:6739 fontsize:XS text: 6739 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:7008 fontsize:XS text: 7008 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:6212 fontsize:XS text: 6212 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:5869 fontsize:XS text: 5869 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:6326 fontsize:XS text: 6326 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:6365 fontsize:XS text: 6365 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:6643 fontsize:XS text: 6643 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

Trivia

Urbania features as the main setting of ''Ci Siamo'' () a textbook for students of

used by many Australian students in the middle years of high school.

References

External links

Urbania official website
{{authority control Cities and towns in the Marche