The festivity of All Saints' Day is a very felt and lively period in Umbria thanks to the many traditions that animate the territory. Oil, chestnuts, truffles, and sweets. The Halloween of Todi and surroundings is waiting only for you!
Halloween has a lot to do with our ancient traditions. A rite of passage between the harvest season and the frost season, the festival of Samahin was transformed by the Romans into the day of the cult of the ancestors. Over the years, the tradition has moved overseas, becoming Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve.
In this period the atmosphere is a bit dark and mysterious. For this reason, you cannot miss a visit to Todi Underground, a real gem that every year attracts many tourists. A city within the city to discover moving underground following a path that extends between pre-Roman, Roman and medieval tanks, wells, tunnels, and tunnels to add another piece to our history.
Halloween cannot miss then a pinch of fantastic and supernatural. That's why a self-respecting medieval city must have a story of witches to tell.
Our Matteuccia da Ripabianca, however, is not like the others: she was one of the first women in Europe to be accused, tried, and convicted of witchcraft. Expert connoisseur of herbs and ointments, capable of curing diseases of the body and mind, she sold love potions to her clients, including Braccio Fortebracci, leader and lord of a large fief. The enmity of the rivals of Braccio contributed to move against her more than 30 charges that did not give her escape. Matteuccia was burned alive in Piazza del Montarone, to her is dedicated the Orto laboratorio of the city, a garden of aromatic and medicinal herbs.
It isn’t Halloween without a handful of tasty treats, and Todi doesn’t lack gluttony.
Typical of All Saints' Day, Fave dei Morti are reminiscent of bones in the shape and crunchiness of the dough. In the past they were prepared and left on the tables of the houses as a bridge between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Their name derives in fact from the ancient belief that saw in the bean the direct link to the afterlife since in the night between October 31 and November 1 the border between the world of the living and the dead seemed to thin. Another delicacy to be discovered are the sweet Maccheroni, a delicious dish which has its roots in the Etruscan culture. Chocolate, walnuts, breadcrumbs, alchermes and pasta. A gamble? Perhaps yes, but it is worth tasting them to reconsider.
Finally, not far from Todi, in Città di Castello, there is a palace guardian of a mysterious secret. Inside the elegant halls of Palazzo Vitelli alla Cannoniera there seems to be a particular ghost.
The palace, in fact, was made to build for will of Alessandro Vitelli, known leader, that had foreseen a room devoted to his beautiful lover Laura. While she was waiting for the return of her beloved, she embroidered handkerchiefs that soon became a pledge of love with other men. Vitali, discovered the wrongdoings, planned a trap and killed his lover with the complicity of Laura. The cruelty of Sora Laura was punished when, for odine of the wife of Vitali, was made to kill. Since her death, the ghost would remain trapped in the palace in search of forgiveness and redemption.
Whether you are looking for a chilling vacation, or just curious to know a little 'better the folklore and tradition of our city, Todi is waiting to guide you on this journey through medieval castles, ladies and knights, legends, ghosts, witches and dragons. Come and visit us!
