Piazza del Popolo and the Temple of the Consolation
On a hill above the Tiber valley, at about 400 metres, Todi is one of the most beautiful and elegant towns in Umbria, with three rings of walls, Etruscan, Roman and medieval, which testify to its long history. In 1991 a study by an American university, often quoted, defined it as the "most liveable town in the world", and its harmonious historic centre, its quality of life and its views over the green hills have attracted many residents from all over the world. It is the birthplace of the poet and mystic Jacopone da Todi, author of the "Stabat Mater", buried in the church of San Fortunato.
The heart of the town is Piazza del Popolo, one of the most beautiful medieval squares in Italy, surrounded by three Gothic public palaces, the Palazzo del Popolo, the Palazzo del Capitano, connected by a monumental staircase, and the Palazzo dei Priori, with its tower, and at the end by the Romanesque Cathedral, with a large rose window, reached by a wide flight of steps. A short distance away, the great Gothic church of San Fortunato dominates the town from a staircase surrounded by gardens. Just outside the walls, in a solitary position in the countryside, stands the Temple of Santa Maria della Consolazione, one of the masterpieces of Renaissance architecture: a church with a Greek cross plan and a large central dome, with four apses, built between 1508 and 1607 on the model of the ideas of Bramante, a perfect, harmonious volume in white stone, which seems to embody the Renaissance ideal of the perfect church.
Tip: park below and take the lift or the funicular to the centre; the view of the Consolazione is beautiful from the gardens of the Rocca.
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