Todi

a city to explore
Todi

...........Page 1: the Monuments, Historical Notes
...........Page 2: Views, Jacopone da Todi
...........Page 3: Archaelogical Todi, Museum and Art Gallery

Page 3*.......***

Archaelogical Todi

Numerous archaelogical discoveries
have been made in Todi and its surrounding territory, howevwe it is believed
that the greater part is still to be discovered and explored. The first
traces date from the neolithic period. Archaeological exavation were carried
out in the 10th C. without any scientific criteria and most of the material
found was carried off tovarious italian museums or disappeared into the
international antiques market. Most of the discoveries from the archaic
and preromasn periods come from the necropoli ouside the walls. An extraordinary
quantity of beatiful objects in gold, ivory, bronze and ceramic have been
found in the necropoli and most are preserved in the Archaeological Museum
in Florence and Villa Giulia in Rome. The statue known as the "Todi Mars",
an important Etruscan work from the end of the 5th C. BC. attributed to
the Orvieto school, was found in 1835 at Montesanto, the site of ancient
sanctuary dedicated to Mars. The "Mars" is on exhibit in the Vatican Museum
together with other artifacts including a stele in travertina from the
2nd C. BC. with a bilingual incription in celtic and latin, and a beautiful
marble niche, the "Todi Niche" - richly ornamented with birds and naturalistic
elements - found near the Tiber in 1572. Together with a collection of
coins, marble, and bronze ect, a number of ceramic-both imported, from
the archaic (7th C. BC.), to late classical and hellenistic periods (after
the 47h C. BC.) and local crafwork (4th - 3rd C. BC.) - are preserved in
the museum of Todi. The traces of the Roman period which have come downto
us are more evident and permit us to individualize the general outline
of the urban structure of the period. The Campidoglio (Capitol), with a
temple dedicated to Jupiter, was in the present day park of the Rocca -
a probable site of sacred buildings already in pre-Roman times - while
the forum was in construction of enormous supporting cisterns beneath the
area. The amphitheatre was outside the wall, the thetre was nestled on
the northeast flank of the hill, utilizing its natural incline. Few remains
are found of either. Of exceptional interest are the works realized in
the city's underground by the Etruscans and the Romans: a dense network
of wells, cisterns and tunnels which assured abbundant reserves of water
and had the function of draining water, the primary cause, in the past
as in the present, of the instability of Todi's hill.

	Left: The "Todi Mars", bronze statue height 56,8 inches. (Vatican Museums) Right: - Roman Niches - "Porta Libera" part of the Roman walls.
		Left: objects on exhibit in the Municipal Etruscan-Roman Museum of Todi - large bell-sharped clay, III C. B.C. - Kantharos, bucchero, VI-V C. B.C. - oinochoe, trilibed clay, IV-III C. B.C.
	Archeological Museum and Art-Gallery	The Museum è articolato in un percorso suddiviso in 5 sezioni: Archeologia e Bronzetti, Numismatica, Tessuti Antiche, Ceramiche Medievali e Rinascimentali e Pinacoteca. Right: Sezione archeologica
Above: Bronzetti Below: gioielli (sezione archeologica)		Left and below: una sala delle Ceramiche

		Left, right and below: Art-Gallery

Page 1: the Monuments, Historical Notes
Page 2: Views, Jacopone da Todi
Page 3: Archaelogical Todi, Museum and Art Gallery

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