Todi, a chic and beautiful medieval hilltown with a magnificent central
piazza surrounded by Gothic towers, is 15
minutes from Montecastello by
car. More info: Todi on Wikipedia
Church
of Santa Maria della Consolazione, just outside the city, may have been
designed by Bramante or Antonio
da Sangallo: it's a beautiful
renaissance construction of the 16C based on a sphere and a cube.
Convento di Montesanto,
in the oldest part of Todi. There is an ancient linden tree that was planted
(some say) in the 14C by San Bernardino. St.
Jacopone, the medieval
poet was born
in Todi. The Etruscan bronze Mars
of Todi, now in the Vatican
Museum, was found there.
Church of San Fortunato,
on the highest part of Todi, has a small fresco by Masolino. But
much more interesting are the relief
sculptures around the main doorway: Jacopo della Quercia worked
here. Built in the 13-15C.
Etruscan arch -
The center of the city was first built by the Umbrians,
then Etruscans, then Romans, and later expanded in the medieval and Gothic periods.
Piazza del Popolo (Piazza
Vittorio Emanuele II) - One of the most perfect medieval piazzas in Italy,
built 1213. Originally,
like many piazzas in Italy, it was the Roman forum.
Palazzo dei Priori -
a beautiful 14C building with a trapezoidal tower, facing the Duomo in the
piazza.
Palazzo del Capitano - Palazzo del Popolo - Pinacoteca - Palazzi
Comunali, Piazza del Popolo, 075 8956216. 10.30-13, 14-18.30. On the upper floors,
the history of the town and its environs: prehistoric, protohistoric, Umbrian,
Etruscan and Roman, coins, textiles, ceramics; paintings: Giovanni di Pietro
(Lo
Spagna), and the Sala del Consiglio Generale and Sala del Capitano del
Popolo, entirely frescoed during the 17-18 C.
Nicchioni Romani - Roman Niches, Piazza del Mercato Vecchio, where open-air markets used to be. They are four niches whose size is 48x11. It is thought that it was a temple dedicated to Mars, but it is more likely to be a supporting wall.
For a preview of Todi, see "The
Agony and the Ecstasy" starring Charlton
Heston and Rex
Harrison, 1965. The Rome shots are actually shot in Todi. Todi has
many good restaurants (try the tagliatelle
al tartufo at Ristorante
Umbria in the piazza, tel. 075 8942737,
or Sunday brunch by the pool at the Fattoria di Vibio in Doglio, tel.
075 8749607, or fresh fish at Ristorante Sebeto, tel. 075 8944400, or the homemade pasta al
forno and local meat at Trattoria
Pisello on the road to Orvieto, tel. 0744 958242,
to name just a few). There is a theatre,
an abstract art gallery (Extra Moenia Arte Contemporanea, Piazza Garibaldi
Tel.
075 8944867), and many antique shops and food stores. At the Saturday morning
market just outside of town, merchants sell clothes, shoes, housewares and
produce.
At Lo Studiolo bookstore, near the Etruscan arch, you can buy art books and
antiques. Up the street is Pianegiani's, with some of the best gelato
in Umbria (if you don't believe us, try the all others and see). The
Todi Arte Festival, July 12-27 brings together musicians and artists
from all over the world. And don't miss the Italian International Hot Air Balloon Grand Prix – 13 – 27 July.
For the ultimate people-watching experience, sit outside the Gran Caffè
Duomo in the piazza. All important business takes place in the piazza. Men stroll
around together in clumps, flicking cigarettes, adjusting their sleeves and
sunglasses, discussing sports and politics, and talking on "telefonini".
Boys in cars and mopeds cruise by slowly, stopping in the middle of the street
to flirt with girls or chat.
There are so many things
to see in Umbria.
These are some of our favorites:
AMELIA - Some of the oldest fortification
walls in Italy: vast, polygonal blocks up to 20 meters high, joined without
mortar (1134 BC).
AVIGLIANO
UMBRO - DUNAROBBA - Foresta
Fossile, remains of a petrified
forest of giant sequoias, more than a million years old.
10-13, 15.30-18.30, € 5
BEVAGNA - The Roman Mosaic Museum of Antiquities - via di Porta Guelfa. Tel. 075 5727141 open
on request, free.
CARSULAE - The ruins of a 1C Roman city, the largest
Roman site in Umbria, exit E 45: Sangemini, on the original
via Flaminia. 8.30-19.30 € 4
CASCATA DELLE MARMORE - a Roman-built
waterfall (271 BC), and quite
a sight; a Corot motif. They turn it on at various hours:
weekdays (June-Aug) 11-13, 16-18, 21-22; Sat-Sun 10-13, 15-22. € 5 includes
parking.
CITTÀ di CASTELLO
The Burri Collection at
the Palazzo Albizzini Foundation - Palazzo Albizzini, via Albizzini, 1.
Tel.
075 8554649. Tues-Sat 9-12.30, 14.30-18, Sun 10.30-12.30, 15-18. Works by Alberto
Burri. Sculpture in the former Tobacco Drying-Rooms (via Francesco Pierucci).
€ 5
Museo del Duomo - Pinturicchio, Rosso Fiorentino, Giulio Romano. Tues-Sun
9.30-13, 14.30-19 €
5
Pinacoteca Comunale -
Palazzo Vitelli alla Cannoniera. 10-13, 14.30-18.30. Raphael, Signorelli, Ghirlandaio, Andrea Della Robbia, Ghiberti. € 6
DERUTA - Since the 13C world-famous for ceramics.
Regional
Museum of Ceramics - ex Convento di S. Francesco, largo S. Francesco
Tel. 075 9711000. 10-13 and 15.30-19. Collection of decorative ceramics
documenting the history of local production from 1290 to the 1950s. 10-13,
15.30-18.
Ubaldo Grazia - Museo Magnini, fine majolica for sale.
Madonna dei Bagni - A tiny church, the inside is covered with ceramic votive tiles left by pilgrims.
FERENTILLO - Rock-climbing capital
Abbazia di
San Pietro in Valle - 10.30-12.30, 14.30-18. Frescoes from 1190, Romanesque carvings. € 2.60
Museum of Mummies - Church
of St. Stefano - 9-12.30, 14.30-19.30 € 2.60
FONTI DI
CLITUNNO - Springs visited by Virgil, Caligula; tiny 5C church.
GUBBIO - Magnificent
piazza, spaces, views, 1C Roman
theater
Palazzo
dei Consoli (1332) Museo e Pinacoteca - Piazza Grande. 10-13, 15-18. Tel. 075 9274298.
Palazzo
Ducale - Museo - built for Federico da Montefeltro. 8.30-19.30.
Tel. 075 9275872.
LUGNANO
IN TEVERINA - Chiesa Collegiata - A tiny Romanesque
church, a real jewel. Gorgeous
details: columns, capitals, mosaics.
MONTEFALCO - Museo
Civico, in the ex-church
of San Francesco. Tel. 0742 379598. 10.30-13,
15-19. Life
of St. Francis by Benozzo Gozzoli, Perugino Annunciation
and Nativity. The town is also known for its excellent wine.
NARNI - beautifully
situated medieval city,
overlooking the bridge that Corot painted, Rocca above.
Pinacoteca -
Palazzo Comunale, piazza dei Priori. Tel. 0744 747258. 11-13, 15-19, closed
Mondays, free. Temporary exhibit of detached frescos by Ghirlandaio, Gozzoli,
lo Spagna.
NORCIA - the tartufo source. A Roman
town practically in the middle of nowhere. Above, Castelluccio,
on an unforgettable
plain, famous all over Italy for its lentils.
OTRICOLI - The main
structures of a Roman
town still visible today.
ORVIETO - beautiful hilltown on a volcanic rock, delicious wine. Medieval center, Etruscan
wells.
Museo
Claudio Faina - Palazzo Faina, Piazza del Duomo, 29. Tues-Sun 9.30-18.
Tel. 0763 341216-341511.
Etruscan sculpture, reliefs, frescoes, vase paintings. € 4.50.
Duomo - Fabulous Gothic cathedral by Arnolfo
di Cambio, with carved facade of the last judgement by Maitani (1310);
bronze doors by Emilio Greco (1964), chapel
of San Brizio: Signorelli Last
Judgement (1499), Gentile da
Fabriano. Buy
your ticket at the shop across the square. € 3
Museo Emilio Greco - Piazza Duomo. 10.30-13, 14-18.30, closed Mon. Tel. 0763 344605.
National
Archaeological Museum - Piazza del Duomo. Mon-Sat, 8.30-19.30.
Tel. 0763 341039 € 3, Museum + Crocifisso necropolis: € 5.
Necropoli
Etrusca del Crocefisso del Tufo - S.S. 71 at km. 1.6. Tel. 0763 343611. 9-19. Etruscan
necropolis just outside of town.
Underground
Orvieto Tours - Orvieto is honeycombed with Etruscan and medieval caves. 1-hr English tours
daily at 11, 12.15, 16, and 17.15, € 5.50
Civita
di Bagnoregio - not in Umbria, but worth
the trip. 15 km south of Orvieto,
population 14, the only way in is a walking
bridge.
SPELLO - Augustan-era walls, gates
S.
Maria Maggiore - Pinturicchio frescoes
Pinacoteca Civica - Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, 10 Tel. 0472 301497
10.30-13, 15-18.30 closed Mon.
Straka-Coppa
Collection - Villa Fidelia, via Centrale Umbra. Thur-Sun 10-13, 15.30-18. Guttuso, Attardi, Manzù.
SPOLETO - Festival
of Two Worlds - Arts
festival, June 27 - July 13. TicketOne tel. 892.101 or 0743.218613
Duomo - Romanesque cathedral, frescoes
by Pinturicchio, Filippo Lippi.
Gam
(Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna) - Palazzo Collicola,
Piazza Collicola. Tel. 0743 46434. 10-13, 15.30-19. Burri, Calder,
Serra, Moore, LeWitt. € 4
Museo
Archeologico e Teatro Romano - via S. Agata - tel. 0743 223277.
8.30-19.30. € 4
Pinacoteca
Comunale -Palazzo Spada, Via delle Terme, 5 – Corso
Mazzini / Vicolo III; Tel.
0743 46434. 10.30-13, 15-18.30, closed Tues. Lo Spagna, Guercino. € 3
TORGIANO - Wine
Museum and Olive and Oil Museum - Fondazione Lungarotti - Palazzo Graziani-Baglioni,
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. 9-13, 15-19. Tel. 075 9880200. € 7.
Wine culture; a superb collection of ceramic vessels. Next door, Le
Tre Vaselle, 5-star restaurant-hotel.
TREVI -
Trevi Flash Art Museum
of Contemporary Art, Palazzo Lucarini. Tel. 0742 381818. Tues-Sun 15-19
€ 5.
