Todi

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.

[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.

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.

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.

Nicchioni , Roman constructions of uncertain function.
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 .