This enormous pile was built on the highest point in town, and it is literally a three-minute walk from our apartment. Construction began in 1290 or so, on the site of a previous Roman structure, and it was “finished” a couple hundred years later lol
We see its dramatic bell tower every single dayOn the walk back home from dinnerThe inside is quite austere and the ambiance is pretty amazing because odds are the place will be completely empty during your visit. I’ve said it before but it is enchanting to explore a seven-hundred-year-old space where the only sounds are your own footstepsIt used to be well-ornamented and colorful but water damage has taken a sad toll over the many yearsDown in the crypt is the resident local dead dude, a religious poet by the name of Jacopone da TodiThe 16th century building we are staying in is almost certainly one of the rooftops furthest to the leftBy now you should know that if there is a bell tower, we are gonna climb it!Sam pondering “do we really have to climb it??”And so it begins…..Some mysterious mechanical marvelHere comes Sam!The top is completely stuffed with bells, but for whatever reason they are seldom if ever used, we never heard them a single time I can’t imagine the labor and artistry which went into this casting so many years ago, seems a bit sad to think of it never being rung any longerWhat a view!! That tower in the center across town is the other major 13th century cathedral in Todi, also quite magnificent as well as sadly empty and echoeyView down one of the ancient roads, if you look closely you can see the old gate which guarded the entry into the cityScreenshotThat’s where we just were!!As seen from the bus leaving town
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