Todi and Umbria Trip Guide - Student Handbook

Student Handbook Trip Guide to Todi & Umbria

Todi, a chic and beautiful medieval hilltown with a magnificent central piazza surrounded by Gothic towers, is 15 minutes from Montecastello by car.

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, € 5. 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 meters. 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, 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 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. 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 brings together musicians and artists from all over the world. And don't miss the Italian International Hot Air Balloon Grand Prix: July 7 – 21.

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.

UMBRIA

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 € 5

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. Tues-Sat 9-12:30, 14:30-18:30, Sun 10.30-12.30, 15-18. Works by Alberto Burri. Sculpture in the former Tobacco Drying-Rooms (via Francesco Pierucci). € 10
Museo del Duomo - Pinturicchio, Rosso Fiorentino, Giulio Romano. Tues-Sun 10-13, 15:30-19 € 6
Pinacoteca Comunale - Palazzo Vitelli alla Cannoniera. 10-13, 14:30-18.30. Raphael, Signorelli, Ghirlandaio, Andrea Della Robbia, Ghiberti. € 5

DERUTA - Since the 13C world-famous for ceramics.

Regional Museum of Ceramics - ex Convento di S. Francesco, largo S. Francesco 10-13, 15:30-18. Tel. 075 9711000. Collection of decorative ceramics documenting the history of local production from 1290 to the 1950s.
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. € 7 Biglietto Unico, visit: Cappella di San Brizio in Duomo - Palazzo Soliano - Collezione "Museo E. Greco" - Palazzi Papali - Libreria Albèri - Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli e Presepe di Bruno Conte - Chiesa di Sant'Agostino - or Duomo + Cappella di S. Brizio + Museums € 5. Ticket office in piazza across from the Duomo

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 - 7:30-12:45, 14:30-18:15. Fabulous Gothic cathedral by and Tomb of Cardinal de Braye 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; Vault of Cappella Nuova by Fra Angelico and Benozzo Gozzoli. Buy your ticket at the shop across the square. € 3
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo - 9:30 - 19. Andrea Pisano sculpture group the Maestà, Coppo di Marcovaldo, Luca Signorelli, Simone Martini. € 4
Museo Emilio Greco - Piazza Duomo. 10:30-12:30, 15-17, 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, € 6
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 - Cappella Baglioni: Pinturicchio frescoes
Pinacoteca Civica - Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, 10 Tel. 0472 301497 10:30-13, 15-18:30 closed Mon.

SPOLETO - Festival of Two Worlds - Arts festival, June 28 - July 14. Tickets online or tel. +39 0743 22 28 89

Duomo - Romanesque cathedral, frescoes by Pinturicchio, Filippo Lippi.
Museo Carandente- Palazzo Collicola, Piazza Collicola. Tel. 0743 46434. Wed - Sun 10-13, 15-17:30. Burri, Calder, Serra, Moore, LeWitt. € 9.50
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. 10-13, 15-18. Tel. 075 9880200. € 7. Wine culture; a superb collection of ceramic vessels. Next door, Le Tre Vaselle, 5-star restaurant-hotel.

TREVI - Palazzo Lucarini Contemporary, Palazzo Lucarini. Tel. 0742 381818. Thur-Sun 15-18 € 5.

Student Handbook Trip Guide > Rome > Florence > Siena > Sansepolcro & Arezzo > Perugia & Assisi > Todi & Umbria