A Short History of the Santoro family and the Todi Castle Estate

Our guests are always interested in the story of how we came to live in Todi Castle . They enjoy a bit of the biography of the castle as well.

Todi Castle tower was built in the 11 th century. The tower functioned strategically to fortify a Roman military route. Between the 10 th and 13 th century additional towers were built, incorporating the original tower into a castle fortress. The area surrounding Todi flourished during the 13 th century and maintained an army of more than 5000 men. Dozens of fortresses including Todi Castle were combined to create a system that allowed for rapid communication between the towers by means of lights used for signaling.

At the beginning of the 15 th century Todi Castle was transformed into a monastary which was abandoned several centuries later when it became the object of conflicting claims among various local lords.

My parents bought Todi Castle in 1974. Then and for many years before, the abandoned castle was considered local community property, a kind of public space where farmers stored their grain and housed their pigs. We had been searching for a country house for a long time and I remember many week-ends as a young boy jumping into the car with my parents (a car that had infinite troubles and was often in the repair shop) and taking off to look at yet another house in the country.


When we first saw Todi Castle it was a beautiful wreck. The castle had been abandoned for 300 years. There was not a speck of green or a living tree anywhere near or on the property. However my father's energy expanded in proportion to the amount of work necessary to restore this huge property and by the possibilities inherent in the surrounding grounds. The Umbrian landscape inspires with its configurations of rounded hills and changeable and brilliant skies.

Since 1974 my father has planted over 3000 trees on our land and acres of emerald grass. There are cypress, pine, olive, almond, fig, apricot and cherry trees now. We have 3 horses that graze in the fields and a flock of geese in the pond. All this thrives in an environment that is notorious for its poorly nourished rocky earth, lack of water and extreme winds in winter.

Luckily most of the exterior walls of the castle remained intact over the centuries. We fully restored the remaining damaged walls with the help of local artisans who still use ancient stone cutting techniques. We finished the interior renovations of the castle in 1983. The rooms have a 16 th century feel that is appropriate to the original architecture.

Since 2000 we have been slowly developing Todi Castle into a luxurious small hotel. My father continues to refine the outside spaces while I concentrate on the details of running the inside smoothly to make certain our guests delight in their experience here.


Mario Santoro
Visual Artist \ photography