What is Todi known for?

Greek-cross Renaissance temple attributed to Bramante, built 1508-1607, one of the most rigorous central-plan churches in central Italy. Jacopone de Benedetti, the 13th-century poet of nearly one hundred vernacular laudi, was born here in 1236 and is buried in San Fortunato's crypt. Medieval square on top of Roman cisterns still working, with cathedral, Palazzo dei Priori, and Palazzo del Capitano on three sides.

Todi is a comune in the province of Perugia, Umbria region of Italy, about 43 kilometers from Terni.

Umbria · Perugia

Todi

A walled hill townon the Tiber, with Etruscan, Roman, and medieval rings stacked up Colle Nidoli.

43 km / 27 mi

Nearest hub (Terni)

15,682

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Todi sitson the summit of Colle Nidoli, above the middle Tiber. The town stacks three concentric ring walls: Etruscan and Roman at the base, medieval at the top, all visible from the surrounding hills. Piazza del Popolo, on the highest point, is one of the most fully preserved medieval squares in Italy: cathedral, Palazzo dei Priori with its trapezoidal tower of 1334-1347, Palazzo del Capitano with its triple window of the thirteenth century, all built on the Roman forum above a system of cisterns still in service for water and drainage. The town gave birth in 1236 to the poet and ecclesiastic Jacopone de Benedetti, whose tomb is in the crypt of San Fortunato. The Tempio di Santa Maria della Consolazione, attributed to Bramante and built between 1508 and 1607 outside the medieval walls, is one of the most rigorous Greek-cross plan buildings of the High Renaissance, with a fifty-meter dome.

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Gallery

10 photos · scroll →

Known for

Piazza del Popolo
Square on the highest point of Colle Nidoli, built over Roman cisterns still in use, ringed by cathedral, Palazzo dei Priori, and Palazzo del Capitano.
Cattedrale della Santissima Annunziata
Twelfth-century cathedral on the site of a Roman temple, north end of Piazza del Popolo, Gothic rose window and a fresco of the Last Judgment by Faenzone inside.
Tempio di Santa Maria della Consolazione
Greek-cross Renaissance temple attributed to Bramante, built 1508-1607 outside the walls, with a fifty-meter dome completed in 1607.
Chiesa di San Fortunato
Gothic-Renaissance church on Piazza Umberto I, holding 14th-century Giotto-school frescoes and the crypt tomb of Jacopone da Todi.
Palazzo dei Priori
Town hall built 1334-1347 on the south side of Piazza del Popolo, trapezoidal tower with the 1339 bronze Eagle of Todi by Giovanni di Giliaccio.
Nicchioni Romani
Four colossal Roman niches at the foot of the medieval town, the surviving wall of a 1st-century BC public building beside the Roman forum.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the months locals prefer. The Tiber valley below stays green or gold depending on the half, and the upper terraces hold light into the evening. Todi Festival runs in late August with concerts and theater in the centro storico. July and August push temperatures into the mid thirties; the centro storico thins between two and six in the afternoon and the cathedral and San Fortunato become the cool refuges. November through March is quiet but the cathedral and Consolazione stay open. The temple in winter mist, isolated on its flat outside the walls, is the photograph most photographers come back for.