Information about Todi territory

TODI

Todi municipality: PIAZZA DEL POPOLO - Perugia tel: 075 89561 
Tourist informations : 0763.390047
Info and booking of agritourism in the province of Perugia: Agritourism Perugia

Todi, town and comune ( township ) of the Province of Perugia ( Umbria ) in Italy. It is perched on a tall two-breasted hill overlooking the east bank of the Tiber, commanding distant views in every direction.

History

According to the legend, said to have been recorded around 1330 BC by a mythological Quirinus Colonus, Todi was built by Hercules, who here killed Cacus, and give the city the name of Eclis.

Historical Todi was founded by the ancient Italic people of the Umbri, in the 8^th - 7^th century BC, with the name of Tutere (Pliny, Naturalis historia). The name means "border", being the city located on the frontier with the Etruscan dominions. It probably was still under the latter's influence when it was conquered by the Romans in 217 BC. According to Silius Italicus, it had a double line of walls that stopped Hannibal himself after his victory at the Trasimeno. In most Latin texts, the name of the town took the form Tuder.

Christianity spread to Todi very early, through the efforts of St. Terentianus. Bishop St. Fortunatus became the patron saint of the city for his heroic defense of it during the Gothic siege. In Lombard times, Todi was part of the Duchy of Spoleto.

After the 12^th century the city started to expand again: the government was held first by consuls, and then by podestà and a people's captain, some of whom achieved wide fame. In 1244 the new quarters, housing mainly the new artisan classes, were enclosed in a new circle of walls. In 1290 the city had 40,000 inhabitants. Communal autonomy was lost in 1367 when the city was annexed to the Papal States: the local overlordship shifted among various families (the Tomacelli, the Malatesta, Braccio da Montone, Francesco Sforza, etc.). Although reduced to half of its former population, Todi lived a brief period of splendour under bishop Angelo Cesi (1556-1606), who built new edifices or added new ones, like the Cesia Fountain that still bears his name.

In July of 1849 Todi received Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was fleeing after the failed democratic attempt of the Republic of Rome.

Todi is the birthplace of the Franciscan poet Jacopone da Todi, who is buried in a special crypt in the church of S. Fortunato.


Main sights

Almost all Todi's main medieval monuments - the co-cathedral church (Duomo), the Palazzo del Capitano, the Palazzo del Priore and the Palazzo del Popolo - front on the main square on the lower breast of the hill: the piazza is thus one of the most picturesque in Italy and is often used as a movie set. The whole landscape is sited over some huge ancient Roman cisterns, with more than 500 pits, which remained in use until 1925.


The Cathedral

The Cathedral (11th century) is a striking Gothic edifice on the Lombard plan, said to be erected over an ancient Roman building, probably a temple dedicated to Apollo (here an ancient bronze head, now at the Vatican Museum, was found). The current church was almost totally rebuilt after a fire in 1190. The main feature of the squarish facade is the central great rose-window, added in 1513. Of the same period is the wooden door of the portal, by Antonio Bencivenni from Mercatello, of which only the four upper panels remain today.

The church follows the plan of the Latin cross, with a nave and two aisles. Bonifacio VIII allegedly had a second aisle on one side, commonly known as " La navatina ". The counter-facade is occupied by a giant fresco depicting the Universal Judgment by Ferraù Faenzone, a work commissioned by Cardinal Angelo Cesi, in which the influence, if nowhere near the genius, of Michaelangelo is easily discerned. The choir includes the Gothic altar and a magnificent wooden choir-enclosure (1521) with two floors. An important artpiece is a 13th century Crucifixion of Umbrian school.


Palazzo del Popolo

The Palazzo del Popolo (" People's Palace ") is a Lombard-Gothic construction already existing in 1213, and is one of the most ancient communal palaces in Italy. It comprises two great halls: the " Sala Grande Inferiore ", or " Sala delle Pietre ", and the " Sala Grande Superiore ", housing the local Gallery.

Palazzo del Capitano

The " Captain's Palace ", in Italian Gothic style, was built around 1293 and named " New Communal Palace " to differentiate it from the former one. It is on two distinct levels: the first floor housed the Justice Hall (currently, seat of the Communal Council), with the Judges's offices in the lower. The latter is now occupied by the City Museum, with findings and remains of Todi's history. It includes a saddle used by Anita Garibaldi. Some rooms are frescoed with histories of the city and portraits of its most illustrious men.

Palazzo dei Priori

It is located in the southern side of the Piazza, facing the Cathedral. It was began in 1293 and later enlarged as seat of the podestà , priors and the Papal governors. The trapezoidal tower was originally lower, and had Guelph merlons. The facade includes a big bronze eagle by Giovanni di Giliaccio (1347).

Palazzo Vescovile

Located at the left of the Cathedral, it was built in 1593 by Cardinal Angelo Cesi at his own expense. His crest is visible over the great portal, attributed to Vignola. The upper floors include a room frescoed by Faenzone and a gallery frescoed by Andrea Polinori in 1629.

Other attractions

-The church of S. Fortunato and the sparse ruins of a medieval fortress (Rocca) lie on the other breast of the hill on which the city is built. San Fortunato is a Palaeo-Christian temple (7th century) of which two lion sculptures on the entrance portal remain. In 1292 the contstruction of a new Gothic edifice was begun by the Franciscans, with a " hallroom " structure. Works, however, were halted during the plague of 1348. The lower part of the facade was finished in the second half of the 15th century. The nave and the two aisles have a portal each: these are enriched by fine decorations portraying saints and prophets, with briars representing Good (the vine) and Evil (the fig). The whole apse is occupied by a wooden choir finished in 1590 by Antonio Maffei, from Gubbio. The crypt houses a sepulchre containing the reimains of St. Fortunate and other saints, as well as the tomb of Jacopone da Todi. Another noteworthy artipiece is a Madonna and Child by Masolino da Panicale.

-Todi's most striking church, however, is on the flank of the city hill, just outside the walls: the beautifully sited domed Renaissance church of S. Maria della Consolazione (began in 1508), often attributed, although without sufficient reason, to Bramante. It has a Greek cross plan: three apses are polygonal and that on the north side is semicircular. Architects who worked buld it include Cola da Caprarola, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Baldassarre Peruzzi, Galeazzo Alessi, Sanmicheli, Vignola and Ippolito Scalza. The church was inaugurated only in 1607. The apse is surmounted by a square terrace with 4 eagles at the corners, from which the dome rises. In the interior, the altar houses a miraculous image of the Madonna, which, according to the tradition, was discovered by a worker during the founding works. 12 niches in the first three apses house giant statues of the apostles. Also noteworthy is the wooden statue of Pope Martin I, a native of Todi.

Todi is surrounded by three more or less complete concentric walls: the outermost is medieval, the middle wall is Roman, and the innermost is recognizable as partly Etruscan. Sights include also a colossal Roman niched substructure of uncertain purpose (the Nicchioni), the slight ruins of a Roman amphitheatre, about a dozen smaller churches, and a few Renaissance or classical palazzi, among which the most important is one by Vignola, round out the sights. The neighbourhood of the city has many historical castles, fortresses and ancient churches.

Todi is considered an high-level city, and it's been called from "the New York times" the most beautiful city where to live.
Near to Todi, in the countries of the tuderte area, lives many american citizens. The country of this part of Umbria is often chosen, thanks to its wonderful farmhouses umbria and agritourism umbria.

Itinerary advise:

If you want to have a random choose of the structures you can click on Umbria agritourism (that is a section dedicated to structures of the cities of Orvieto , Perugia , Umbertide , Gubbio , Terni , Todi, Assisi , Foligno, Spoleto , Norcia ecc. ).
You can also select one of the following links Perugia agritourism, Agritourism Terni, Agritourism Orvieto.