Todi, the ancient “Tuder”, is situated on a hill about 400 meters above sea level, between the rivers Naja and Rio, tributaries of the Tiber. In pre-Roman period, Todi was the most powerful fortress city of the Umbrias ("In umbris Tuder sunt principes" ["The ‘Tudertini’ are the first among the Umbrians" (Cato [243-149 BC])], in defending their territory, a difficult area, bordering on the Etruscans. In this sense, as a border area with Etruria, the etymology of the city is explained with one accord by all scholars, who interpret the name "Tuder" as "border town". "[.. .] Todi (‘Tuder’) seems to reflect the Umbro-Etruscan term 'Tular-Tuder', 'border' [...]" (See “Archivio Glottologico Italiano”, Florence, Le Monnier, 1983, Vol. 68-71, p. 149). According to the studies, despite the strenuous defence of the Umbrias, the presence of the Etruscans in “Tuder”, however, was massive and important, as is testified by the Etruscan funerary furniture discovered in the city.

As Regards the relations with Rome, the sources make reference to the second century BC. After the Social War, in 89 BC, Todi obtained the Roman citizenship with a “Senatusconsultum” [executive decree of the Senate] reported by Sisenna (120-67 BC): "[...] Tamen Tudertibus senati consulto et  populi iussu dat civitatem [...] "[" Finally, by the decree of Senate and will of the Roman people,  the Roman citizenship was given to the inhabitants of Todi "] (See Sisen." Hist. Rom. Reliquiae, I, 119, p. 292). The city was assigned to the tribe "Clustumina", as various inscriptions attest. It also actively participated in the Civil War, supporting Marius (157-86 BC), and, for this reason, suffering a severe destruction and looting by Marcus Licinius Crassus [115-53 BC] (83 BC). After the Battle of Philippi (42 BC), a colony of veterans was drawn into it, and Octavian [Augustus] (63 BC-19 AD) also allowed it to expand in some surrounding areas; for its loyalty to Rome, it was defined in the inscriptions with the title of "Colonia Iulia Fida Tuder "[" Todi, a very faithful Colony]. Under Emperor Diocletian (244-311 AD), Todi was inserted in the Region "Tuscia et Umbria"; during the Greek-Gothic war, it was initially a garrison of Goths and later of the Byzantines, and, according to some sources, it was also destroyed by the Goths (See Procopius (500-565 ca.), "De Bello Gothico", II, 13). Towards the end of the sixth century AD, it was occupied by the Lombards, and later it belonged to the Byzantine Exarchate.

In the Middle Ages the city's name changed from “Tuder”, an indeclinable name, to “Tudertum-I”. The growth of Christianity in Todi is believed to date back to the III-IV century AD; the sources indicate Bishop "Terentianus" as the first martyr of the city and, in fact, the only catacombs of Todi, discovered at the “Villa San Faustino”, seem back to the fourth and fifth centuries AD. Between the thirteenth and fourteenth century Todi was a powerful municipality, bloody, like all Italian cities, by the fighting between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, and engaged in exhausting struggles against neighbouring towns, such as Orvieto and Spoleto, and against attempts of Emperor Frederick II (1184-1250) to subject municipalities to the imperial authority. From the fourteenth century, the municipal autonomy of Todi weakened, and the city depended more and more by the Church State, although various families, such as the Malatesta from Rimini, Fortinbras Braccio da Montone (1368-1424) and Francesco Sforza (1401-1466) conquered it for some years. Among these, we remember especially the lordship of the “Atti” Family. In fact, in 1329, Ranieri Atti was appointed Vicar of Ludwig of Bavaria (1315-1361). But soon, Todi returned under the Papal rule and the “Atti” were appointed Papal Vicars.

The Church State fully restored its authority with Cardinal Albornoz (1310-1367), who, in the second half of the fourteenth century, imposed on the city a papal governor and the construction of a fortress for better control of the town. Since the beginning of the fourteenth century, Todi recorded a slow decline, although the Temple of “San Fortunato” was finished; it was built, in the thirteenth century, by Giovanni di Santuccio da Fiorenzuola (15th century) and Bartolomeo Mattioli (15th century). From the fifteenth to the sixteenth century, on the most representative areas of the upper town, the private residences of noble families, like two Palaces of the “Atti”, in “Piazza Garibaldi” and “Palazzo Cesi” were built. With Bishop Angelo Cesi (1566-1606) the city seemed to recover from the demographic crisis of the early sixteenth century, caused by a wave of plague, which had reduced the population to less than half.

During the episcopate of Angelo Cesi, some town-planning and architectonical interventions of importance were performed in Todi, such as the enlargement of “Via Cesia” and “Via Rua”; the restoration of Cathedral and the construction of Bishop's Palace; the edification of “Crocifisso” Church outside walls, and the “Tempio della Consolazione”, which began in 1508. The Temple “of Santa Maria della Consolazione” was probably born with a plan by Bramante (1444-1514), and its construction lasted until the early seventeenth century, with contributions of artists like Baldassarre Peruzzi (1481-1536), Vignola (1507-1573) and Ippolito Scalza (1532-1617). The city remained under the rule of Church State until the Napoleonic Age, during which it was the capital of a very large department, reaching up to Orvieto and Acquapendente, and it was reduced only after the “Risorgimento”, when the city entered Kingdom of Italy (1861).

 

It can be argued that the city maintains, even today, a particularly historical integrity; in fact, in the urban aspect, the ancient Roman "municipium" remained virtually unaltered, although in the nineteenth century, the city underwent several renovations especially for improving roads inside and outside the walls, but, overall, the Old Town of Todi was well maintained over the years