Todi (; 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. It was founded in antiquity by the Umbri, at the border with Etruria; the gens Ulpia of Roman emperor Trajan came from Todi.
Etymology
Todi was founded by the Umbri, in the 8th-7th century BC, with the name of Tutere. The name means "border", the city being located on the frontier with the Etruscan dominions.
History
Mythical founding
Todi has a legendary foundation sometimes placed as early as 2707 BC and linked to a Veii-Umbri tribe. According to one foundation legend, the first furrow was traced under the guidance of an eagle, in the area behind what is now the cathedral district. Another tradition connects the town's early development to environmental change: after the Tiber broke through the Forello gorges and the marshy valley drained, settlement is said to have expanded.
Antiquity
Todi, ancient Tuder (Greek Τοῦδερ), was one of the most important Umbrian cities and minted its own coinage bearing the ancient name Tutere. Its name does not appear before the Roman conquest. Todi was enrolled in the Clustumina tribe.
The first city walls are dated to the 2nd–1st century BC. In the late Roman period a second ring of walls was built.
In 2021, 3,878 people lived in rural dispersed dwellings not assigned to any named locality.
The building has a Greek-cross plan with four apses, three polygonal and one, on the north side, semicircular. Each apse is articulated by two orders of Corinthian pilasters, above which are windows made to a design by in 1587. At the crossing, a dome rises over four corner piers with pendentives and arches decorated in relief. The church is entered through three portals: the east portal is Baroque and dates to the 17th century, the south portal to 1713, and the west portal was designed by Luigi Poletti in 1846.
Archeology
Roman forum
The forum of Todi covered a larger area than the present square, extending beneath the current Cathedral, westward under the buildings facing the communal palaces, and south toward the area now occupied by the Palazzo dei Priori. This extent is shown by the preserved travertine paving.
The forum underwent several phases of rebuilding, visible in differences in the paving. Beneath the surface lay a system of water storage structures. These consisted of two parallel blocks of underground chambers cut into the clay subsoil, where rainwater was collected and stored for daily use. Part of the eastern group remains accessible through a later opening, when one chamber was reused as a cellar. is an Italian association football club, based in the city.
Todi currently plays in Serie D group E.
Notable people
Todi is the birthplace of several notable figures, including Fra Jacopone da Todi, associated with the hymn Stabat Mater; Pope Martin I; the cardinals Raniero di Castelvecchio, Matthew of Aquasparta, Azzone, Teodino, and Francesco of the Atti family; Antonio Montemarte, distinguished in war against the Turks; Arminio Cori, who served France, the Church, and Venice; Fra Raniero, a 15th-century Dominican mathematician; Massarello da Todi of the counts of Coldimezzo; Angelo da Todi; the sculptor Pietro da Todi; and the priest Giuliano, skilled in stained glass.