Piazza del Popolo

Piazza del Popolo, Todi

One of the most beautiful squares in Italy, the Piazza del Popolo opens up at the highest point of Todi, on top of Nidoli hill (398 m above sea level)

The heart of the medieval and modern city, site of the Roman Forum, surrounded by all the buildings of secular and religious power: the Palazzo del Popolo (or del Podestà), the Palazzo del Capitano and the Palazzo dei Priori, built between the 13th and 14th centuries, and, at the other end, the Cathedral of Maria Santissima Annunziata, documented from the 12th century and altered several times in later periods.

 

From whichever part of the city you are coming, surrounded as it is by steep slopes, the flatness of the square will be a surprise. Its pavement is supported by a monumental system of cisterns built in Roman times, which supported the Forum, the public square of the ancient town of Tuder, which was even larger than the medieval and current square.

The Roman cisterns, a fine work of hydraulic engineering to supply water to the hill, are part of an impressive underground tour, which will take you through the network of wells, tunnels and cisterns from various eras.

To fully appreciate the square and its colours, we recommend a visit around lunchtime, when the sunlight is at its strongest, enhancing the whiteness of the stone with which the public buildings are built. Admire the piazza while enjoying an aperitif, perhaps sipping a glass of DOC wine, delighting in the typical habits and rhythms of small Italian towns, which use the squares as places to walk, rest, meet and socialise.

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