Todi and Perugia

                Today in Todi we saw the Church of Saint Fortunata. It is not considered a basilica because it is not owned by the Pope and the Church, it is owned by the municipality of Todi. The outside was not completed so only the bottom half of the church is decorated by carved marble. Represented on the outside was good and evil by fig leaves and grape vines; a bacillus representing evil also; and also a naked nun and friar. There are many stories behind the naked nun and friar and nobody really knows the true story. The inside of this church was fairly plain; in the crypt was the tomb of Jacapone. His body was not actually put in to the church until 300 years after his death because he was excommunicated from the Church ten years before his death. The Bishop of Todi decided that Jacapone deserved to be buried inside of the church because his excommunication was not a huge deal. He also honored the fact that Jacapone did a lot for not only the church but Todi and he deserved to be recognized; so his tomb was put in to the church in Todi. Todi also has a basilica. The basilica is on the main square in Todi, but the Church of Saint Fortunata was more important to the history of the city.

                In the afternoon, we visited Perugia which was one of the larger towns that we visited and the capital city of the Umbria region. It was one of the main Etruscan cities; today it is known as a university town with the University of Perugia, the University of Foreigners and other smaller colleges. One of the main attractions in Perugia is the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. The outside decoration was never completed but is covered with white and pink marble. Outside of this Cathedral is the Fontana Maggiore. It is a medieval fountain that was made between 1277 and 1278 by Nicola Pisano and Giovanni Pisano. It was part of a program of local improvements that began in 1278 to celebrate the independence of Perugia. The basin has twenty five sides with sculptures representing prophets and saints, the labors of the months, the zodiac signs, scenes from Genesis, and events from Roman history. After spending some time in the main square we began walking further in to town. We had some lovely views of the whole city, which was too big to see in the amount of time we had. After our tour, we had some time to walk around by ourselves. Because it was a Sunday, there were a lot of people out and about. Families were getting gelato; people were hanging out on the steps of the Cathedral and in the main square, so people watching was readily available. It was nice to see so many people out and about. So many of the towns that we had visited were bare of people because it is offseason and locals are on vacation and there are no tourists. The fact that Perugia was a bigger town and had universities so there were students also helped; but it was definitely a nice change of pace. The chocolate and the gelato was also a bonus of the trip!