the name todi perhaps means "border" ("tutere") or "tutus" ("hill-top fortified place"). nobody knows for sure how todi was founded, infact a legend tells about its foundation..."tutero, chief of the people of the valley of the tiber, decided to build a village near the river. one day the future tuderti (inhabitants of todi) were sitting on a table-cloth and eating something, suddenly an eagle seized the table-cloth, soared and then dropped it onto the top of the nearby hill. people considered the incident as a warning sign of the gods and built town of todi on top of that hill".

history tells that todi was founded by the umbrians in 2700 b.c.; the etruscans and then the romans left us magnificent traces of their civilization. in 88 b.c. marco crasso stripped the town of its art treasures. with the fall of the roman empire todi was sacked by the goths, greeks and lombards. in this period the town was helped by bishop st.fortunato.
the middle ages marked the beginning of the notorious struggle between todi and the town of orvieto. in the 12th century todi became a free city-state and it had widened its borders very much. in 1326 was born the most famous tuderte, jacopone da todi, he was one of the first dialectal poets in italy. in 1500, after a long period of decay, the old splendour returned following the innovative and artistic forces of renaissance period; a magnificient witness is the temple of the consolazione; bishop angelo cesi boosted this revolutionary process with numerous beatiful architectural works.

todi is a very important historical and artistic centre and a natural jewel surrounded by lovely hills. its monuments are numerous and interesting: the church of st. fortunato (xiii-xvc), a beautiful gothic church, the cathedral (xii-xiiic), a romanesque church which dominates the piazza vittorio emanuele, the palazzo dei priori (xivc), the palazzo del popolo (xiiic), the palazzo del capitano (xiiic) and the tempio of st. maria della consolazione (xvic), projected by bramante, which is an example of renaissance architecture. among the folk celebrations we have to mention: the todi festival in september, the antiquarian exhibition of italy in march and the feast day of the patron st. fortunato (14th october).