Piazza del Popolo, Todi

Piazza del Popolo is the monumental heart of Todi and one of the most harmonious medieval squares in Italy, a broad rectangle laid out on the levelled summit of the hilltop town high above the Tiber valley. What gives the square its rare unity is the ring of civic and religious buildings that frame it: at one end the Romanesque-Gothic Duomo, the cathedral of Santissima Annunziata, rises behind a wide flight of steps, its facade pierced by a great rose window; facing it across the piazza stand the medieval seats of communal government, the crenellated Palazzo del Popolo and Palazzo del Capitano, joined by a grand external staircase, and the Palazzo dei Priori with its trapezoidal tower. Together they present an almost complete ensemble of 13th and 14th-century civic architecture, much of it still used by the town hall and housing the Museo Pinacoteca di Todi. Visitors come to absorb the atmosphere as much as any single monument, climbing the cathedral steps for the best view back across the square, stepping inside the Duomo's serene nave, and pausing at the cafes that spill onto the paving. A relaxed visit takes about an hour, longer with the museum or a wander into the surrounding lanes towards the church of San Fortunato and the panoramic terraces over the valley. The square is liveliest in the early evening passeggiata, when warm light gilds the stone, and quietest in the early morning. Todi crowns a ridge in southern Umbria and is reached by car or by the Ponte Rio escalators that climb from the parking below.