Todi (the comune of 16,000 inhabitants in the province of Perugia, Umbria, the hilltop town at 411m altitude on the hill above the Tiber valley, 47km south of Perugia and 70km north of Orvieto): the specific Todi cultural fame (the "most liveable city in Europe" designation, the specific origin story: the 1990 Kenneth Kolsbun and Mike Schlossberg survey "On the Edge of Livability" published for the United Nations Environment Program which used Todi as the specific example of the small Italian city that scored highest on the specific "liveability matrix" (the combination of the climate, the social cohesion, the architectural quality, the food culture, and the "human scale" (the specific urban size where every significant civic function is within walking distance of every other significant civic function)) that the 1990 UNEP liveability assessment used, the specific media amplification of the 1990 Todi designation (the National Geographic article, the next international press coverage) that generated the specific 1990s "Todi effect" (the international expat community (the Americans, the British, and the Dutch) who bought and restored the specific Todi rural properties in the Tuder (the ancient Umbrian name for Todi) countryside)): the 1990 designation is 35 years old in 2025 but the Todi residents maintain it as the primary civic identity statement.
The specific Todi urban quality that the 1990 survey identified: Piazza del Popolo (the medieval main piazza whose specific three-sided architectural composition, the Duomo (the cathedral on the north side), the Palazzo del Popolo (the 13th-century civic palace on the east side), and the Palazzo del Capitano (the 13th-century captain's palace on the south side), forms the most complete and most architecturally consistent single medieval Italian civic piazza available outside Siena's Campo).
How do you want to see it?
Umbria, ItalyCompare the same experience on GetYourGuide and Viator, save what you like to My Trip, share it, and book when you’re sure. Nearest to this page first.
Todi: Piazza del Popolo, Santa Maria della Consolazione, and the Town
Piazza del Popolo
La Piazza del Popolo di Todi (the People's Square, the specific medieval civic complex): the specific piazza dimensions (approximately 70m × 50m, the specific proportional relationship (the 7:5 ratio between the length and the width) that the medieval Todi civic authorities established in the 13th-century piazza construction produces the specific "perfect proportions" that the architectural tradition cites as the Todi piazza's specific achievement): the three primary buildings: the Duomo (the Todi Cathedral, dedicated to the Annunciation, the 12th-14th century construction whose specific Romanesque-Gothic facade (the three portal arches (the portal with the specific 12th-century bas-relief lunette above the central arch and the specific Gothic windows of the 14th-century upper facade modification) and the rose window (the large Gothic rose window (approximately 4m diameter) in the specific tracery pattern that the 13th-century Umbrian Gothic tradition developed from the French model)) is the most architecturally refined single Umbrian small-city facade). The Palazzo del Popolo (the oldest standing Italian civic palace, the specific 1213 foundation date (the specific document that identifies the Palazzo del Popolo as the oldest continuously existing Italian civic palace in any Italian town: the 1213 foundation is earlier than the Palazzo della Ragione in Padova (1218), the Palazzo dei Priori in Volterra (1208-1254), and the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena (1297)). And the Palazzo del Capitano (the 1290 adjacent building whose specific Umbrian Gothic upper loggia (the specific open arcade at the piano nobile level) is the most elegantly refined single Umbrian civic Gothic architectural element).
Santa Maria della Consolazione
Santa Maria della Consolazione (the Renaissance church outside the Todi walls, the specific building begun 1508 and completed approximately 1607 (99 years of construction) whose specific architectural identity (the Greek-cross plan with the four apses and the central dome (the dome completed approximately 1596-1607 by Francesco da Viterbo (the specific late Renaissance architect who resolved the specific dome construction challenge that the 99-year construction period documents)) is consistently cited in the architectural history as the most "pure" single application of the specific Bramantesque central-plan church ideal (the centralized church plan that Bramante described in his 1505 designs for the new St. Peter's in Rome and that the Todi church applies without the political and liturgical compromises that the Rome St. Peter's eventually required)): the specific identification debate (the specific Santa Maria della Consolazione attribution, the traditional attribution to Bramante himself (the 1508 foundation coincides with Bramante's presence in central Italy and the specific architectural vocabulary is consistent with his Roman work) is now generally held by art historians as an indirect influence (the design by a Bramante follower using the master's principles) rather than a direct Bramante design).
Q&A: Todi Guide
How do I get to Todi from Orvieto or Perugia?
By car (the most practical access. Todi has limited public transport): from Perugia (47km south on the E45 (the superstrada to Terni) to the Todi Nord exit, approximately 45 minutes). From Orvieto (70km north on the E45 to the Todi Sud exit, approximately 55 minutes). From Rome (140km north on the A1 to Orte then the E45, approximately 1 hour 45 minutes). By train: the nearest Todi railway station is the Ponte Naia-Todi station (the Ferrovia Centrale Umbra narrow-gauge railway, the Perugia to Terni line with the Ponte Naia-Todi stop 8km from the town center): the train from Perugia (approximately 1 hour) + the taxi or the local bus from Ponte Naia-Todi station (the 8km, approximately €15 by taxi): not the most practical single Italian town access by public transport. The Todi parking: the specific Todi parking strategy (the town is a ZTL for the historic center access, the specific parking areas outside the walls with the escalators (the "tapis roulants", the specific moving walkway system that the Todi municipality installed to connect the external car parks (the Parcheggio Ponte Naia (the largest park-and-ride) at the valley bottom) to the hilltop town).
