Photography by Owen Findsen

 

Todi's Piazza del Popolo is anchored by four 13th-century buildings still in use today. First, the Duomo, on the north was begun in the 1200's and is on the site of a Roman temple to Apollo.

 

The three at the Piazza's south end include the Palazzo dei Priori, built between 1293 and 1385, the seat of the city's various rulers, including medieval leaders and papal governors. In the foreground, the Palazzo del Popolo, begun in 1213, and the adjoining Palazzo del Capitano, 1290, house the Museo Pinacoteca's painting and archeological collections.

 

The campanile of San Fortunato, 1292 to 1462, delivers a 360-degree view of Todi's surroundings. Jacopone da Todi (c.1228-1306), a rich merchant who became a mystic and a poet following his wife's death, is buried in the crypt.

 

Shaded paths take you down the hill to Todi's icon, Santa Maria della Consolazione, 1508-1607. One of central Italy's finest Renaissance churches, it was built to protect the 15th century fresco of the Madonna della Consolazione still housed there.

 

Weave your way through Todi's streets to its viewpoints at every level of this hill town.

 

The Umbrian landscape beckons from every point of the compass.