Todi (original) (raw)

Comune in Umbria, Italy

Todi
Comune
Comune di Todi
Panorama of the townPanorama of the town
Coat of arms of TodiCoat of arms
Location of Todi Map
Todi is located in ItalyTodiTodiLocation of Todi in ItalyShow map of ItalyTodi is located in UmbriaTodiTodiTodi (Umbria)Show map of Umbria
Coordinates: 42°46′44″N 12°24′51″E / 42.77889°N 12.41417°E / 42.77889; 12.41417
Country Italy
Region Umbria
Province Perugia (PG)
Frazioni Asproli, Cacciano, Camerata, Canonica, Casemascie, Cecanibbi, Chioano, Collevalenza, Cordigliano, Duesanti, Ficareto, Fiore, Frontignano, Ilci, Izzalini, Loreto, Lorgnano, Montemolino, Montenero, Monticello, Pantalla, Pesciano, Petroro, Pian di Porto, Pian di San Martino, Pontecuti, Ponterio, Ponterio Stazione, Porchiano, Quadro, Ripaioli, Romazzano, Rosceto, San Damiano, Torrececcona, Torregentile, Vasciano
Government
• Mayor Antonino Ruggiano (FI)
Area[1]
• Total 223 km2 (86 sq mi)
Elevation 410 m (1,350 ft)
Population (2007)[2]
• Total 17,016
• Density 76/km2 (200/sq mi)
Demonym Tuderti or Todini
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code 06059
Dialing code 075
Patron saint St. Fortunatus
Saint day October 14
Website Official website

Todi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtɔːdi]; Tuder in antiquity) is a town and comune (municipality) of the province of Perugia (region of Umbria) in central Italy. It is perched on a tall two-crested hill overlooking the east bank of the river Tiber, commanding distant views in every direction. It was founded in antiquity by the Umbri, at the border with Etruria; the gens Ulpia of Roman emperor Trajan came from Todi.

In the 1990s, Richard S. Levine, a professor of Architecture at the University of Kentucky, included Todi in academic design exercises aimed at conceiving hypothetical improvements to the city and presented its results in a conference titled "The Sustainable City of the Past and the Sustainable City of the Future". As a result, the Italian press incorrectly reported on Todi as the world's most livable city.[3]

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 gave the city the name of Eclis.

Historical Todi was founded by the ancient Italic people of the Umbri, in the 8th-7th century BC, with the name of Tutere.[4][5] The name means "border", the city being 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 Lake Trasimeno. In most Latin texts, the name of the town took the form Tuder.

A notable archeologic find from the Etruscan period is an ancient bronze, the Mars of Todi, discovered in 1835 in the nearby Montesanto; and now at the Gregorian Etruscan section of the Vatican Museums, but a copy is kept in the crypt of the Cathedral.

It was the home of Trajan's family, the Ulpi Traiani. 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 defence of it during the Gothic siege. In Lombard times, Todi was part of the Duchy of Spoleto.

After the 12th 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.

Benedetto Caetani, the latter Pope Boniface VIII, started his career as a Canon in the Cathedral of Todi in 1260. He never forgot his roots in Todi, later describing the city as "the dwelling place of my early youth," the city which "nourished me while still of tender years," and as a place where he "held lasting memories."

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 and others). Although reduced to half of its former population, Todi lived a brief period of splendour under bishop Angelo Cesi, who rebuilt several edifices or added new ones, like the Cesia Fountain that still bears his name.

In July 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.

Monuments and sites of interest

[edit]

Nicchioni, Roman constructions of uncertain function.

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 (Piazza del Popolo) on the lower breast of the hill: the piazza 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.

Todi has been over the ages been 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 small remnants 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. In the country outside of the city has many historical castles, fortresses and ancient churches including the famous Todi Castle.

Religious architecture or sites

[edit]

The Duomo in the sloping Piazza del Popolo.

The unfinished façade of San Fortunato.

Santa Maria della Consolazione, early 16th century: the central Greek-cross plan with apsidal transepts recalls Bramante's first plans for St Peter's.

Secular and civic architecture or sites

[edit]

Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Todi Calcio[6] is an Italian association football club, based in the city.

Todi currently plays in Serie D group E.

  1. ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. ^ Italian National Institute of Statistics http://www.demo.istat.it/pop2018/index.html. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  3. ^ “Todi Come una Citta` Sostenibile,” keynote, Inauguration Convocation Academic Year Università della Terza Età, October 1992, Todi, Italy; "Todi Citta del Futuro," and "Come Todi Puo Divenire Citta Ideale e Modello per il Futuro", in Il Sole 24 Ore, Milan, Italy, November 28, 1991
  4. ^ Pliny, Naturalis Historia
  5. ^ J. Poultney, The Bronze Tables of Iguvium, 1959
  6. ^ "ASD TODI CALCIO | Todi Calcio". Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved 2012-07-23.

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