{"id":231561,"date":"2022-07-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-10T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/gubbio-issues-the-madman-license\/"},"modified":"2025-06-24T08:14:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T06:14:02","slug":"gubbio-issues-the-madman-license","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/curiosities\/gubbio-issues-the-madman-license\/","title":{"rendered":"Gubbio issues the ‘madman’ license"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ph. leoks\/shutterstock<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Lying in the Apennines, Gubbio<\/strong><\/a> is one of the oldest cities in Umbria, a medieval pearl that still retains its ancient but fascinating aspect. But do you know that in this village you can get the “crazy driver’s license”<\/strong>? Yes, the village of Gubbio is known throughout Italy and around the world for a particular rite that makes it take the nickname “city of madmen”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Vicoli
\nPh.\u00a0Petru Stan\/shutterstock<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Why is Gubbio called the “city of madmen”?<\/h3>\n

The reason for this teasing nickname derives from the presence in the town of a famous fountain and its history: the Bargello Fountain<\/strong> as it stands in front of the palace of the same name, but also known as the Fontana dei Matti<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The stone work, which dates back to the sixteenth century and was then rebuilt in 1800, is in fact the protagonist of a curious legend and is one of the most popular and seen places in the village but it is also the most fun.<\/p>\n

\"Fontana
\nPh. wikimapia<\/a><\/p>\n

The legend of the Fountain of the Fools: how to get the \u201cfool’s license\u201d?<\/h3>\n

According to the narrative, it seems that to receive the madman’s license you have to perform a singular rite, that is to go around the fountain three times with the presence of a citizen of the country, who has the duty to “baptize” each applicant with water of the same fountain.<\/p>\n

\"Fontana
\nPh. Federica Piersimoni<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It will be the “godfather” to ask the Maggio Eugubino Association<\/strong> for the long-awaited driving license, the only and original, a parchment with a symbolic value that formalizes the proof that one is really “crazy”!<\/p>\n

The term ‘crazy’, therefore, in the Umbrian tradition, does not take on an offensive meaning but it is an adjective used to identify a funny person, with that unpredictability and irony that characterizes the Gubbio.<\/p>\n

If you, too, have the desire to receive the “madman’s license”, you can obtain this recognition by contacting the Association, a local organization that preserves the traditions of the Umbrian town.<\/p>\n

\"Patente
\nPh.\u00a0<\/span><\/em>Alessia Volpe<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The village of Gubbio is known all over the world for its splendid medieval appearance but here, a particular rite is still alive that has made it assume the nickname of “city of madmen”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-post-blog-pro.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1547],"tags":[],"village-conntection":[50747],"class_list":["post-231561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-curiosities","village-conntection-gubbio-it"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231561"},{"taxonomy":"village-conntection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/village-conntection?post=231561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}