Italy 39 - Todi a medieval gem

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After a dreadful nights sleep we decided to move on and approach our next destination the small medieval hillside town of Todi. Sometimes you have to give in and give up and try something different .

And what a little gem Todi was too . Very few people go to Todi and it is sadly overlooked by most visitors. This is a shame for Todi but a joy for us as the place was empty. What a peaceful place - a little piece of heaven. And the sun shone too.

The townspeople have recognised the advantage of motorhomers and holidaymakers and the money they bring in to the town. For once it was a joy to go to a town that positively welcomed us in the motorhome and provided decent facilities including water. Parking was provided in the lower town and what a parking space it was. Loads of room with cars having their own spaces and there was plenty of spaces for motorhomes. In fact when we arrived we were the only motorhome on the park. Suzy had the entire car park to herself . We rang the bell on the bollard and the cashier across the road lifted the barrier allowing us parking. It appeared you paid your money when you returned and he lifted the barrier again for you to exit. And what a view.

From the car park you have the choice – the hard way up by steps or the easy in the lift. As it was hot we took the easy option of the lift which gave us stunning views across the Umbrian countryside.

Our first stop was the medieval town square with its public buildings, the Cathedral (11th century) is a Gothic edifice on the Lombard style said to be erected over an ancient Roman building, probably a temple dedicated to Apollo . The current church was almost totally rebuilt after a fire in 1190. The main feature of the squarish façade is the central great rose-window, added in 1513. Of the same period is the wooden door of the portal, by Antonio Bencivenni from Mercatello, of which only the four upper panels remain today.

The church follows the plan of the Latin cross, with a nave and two aisles. Bonifacio VIII allegedly had a second aisle on one side, commonly known as "La navatina". It looked as if the builders had left for lunch and not returned due to plague and lack of money. Further around the square was the Palazzo del Popolo which again was a Lombard-Gothic construction already existing in 1213, and is one of the most ancient communal palaces in Italy. It comprises two great halls: the "Sala Grande Inferiore", or "Sala delle Pietre", and the "Sala Grande Superiore", housing the city's Art Gallery. Unfortunately we saw none of it.

The other buildings around the square included the town hall, the museum and the banks. It was a rather understated beautiful square in typical Italian style.

Lunch was spent in a tiny restaurant – it did look tiny from the outside but inside like a tardis. We walked through the tiny bar, down stairs to a downstairs eating area, down more steps to the outside terrace which was the perfect place to eat and admire the landscape from so high up. What a delight, the pizza we ordered were thin crusted and tasty, Marguerita for himself and mushroom for me - the bill fairly cheap and the view to die for. We didn’t want to move as it felt as if after the disaster of Bologna we had arrived in heaven. The sun shone and burnt my back.

After our lunch we leisurely walked down the narrow streets and alleys that had hardly changed since they were built. A higgledy piggledy mass of housing , shops and small courtyards all hidden from the sun which was beating down. We stopped at the belvedere to admire the view across the valley and of course guess who stood in the only doggy do on the road. As there was no grass in the town it took some while to clean it off the soles of my shoes.

After a leisurely few hours enjoying Todi we headed back to Suzy paid our 6 euros and were let out of the carpark. We left and drove through beautiful Umbrian countryside passing areas we stayed in a few years ago. We had planned to stay on a campsite on a lake in the middle of nowhere however when we arrived a note on the gate announced that they had had to shut early. We had wondered if this was because of the poor weather over the summer or because of the evidence of fire damage we had seen along the way. So instead of our stay on this lake we headed for Bolsena for the night. We are getting used to Plan B, Plan C and Plan D.

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Photos

Todi
Higgledy Piggledy houses