The patron of Gubbio is Saint Ubaldo, whose day falls on 16 May. The city, however, recognises itself in the day before: 15 May is the Festa dei Ceri, when three wooden structures crowned with the statues of Saint Ubaldo, Saint George and Saint Anthony the Abbot are carried through the streets at a run.
It is not a historical re-enactment: it has been repeated every year since at least the twelfth century, and it is one of the oldest such events in Italy. Its weight, in Gubbio and beyond, is such that since 1973 the three stylised ceri have been the emblem of the Umbria Region, on its banner and official flag.
The patron's body rests in the basilica that bears his name, on Monte Ingino above the town: a sanctuary, and a minor basilica since July 1919. Gubbio also holds the Palio della Balestra, contested without interruption since the fifteenth century against Sansepolcro.
