Assisi

During the first Sunday in March we embarked on a pilgrimage of sorts with our friends the H-P’s. One of the items high on Carolyn’s to-do list while in Italy was to visit the town of Assisi and to take in the sites related to the life of Saint Francis. We headed out through the early morning nebbia to beat the crowds and perhaps take in part of a service at one of the most widely visited pilgrimage sites in Italy. During the two hour drive Carolyn poured over an assortment of guide books, picking and choosing from among the dozens of suggestions until she converged on our itinerary.

Assisi sits on the western flank of Monte Subasio near the city of Perugia in Umbria. The old, walled city center sits well above the surrounding region, but is nowhere near the top of the mountain which peaks out around 1300 meters. My first impression of Assisi as we circled below the walls was not particularly favorable, due mainly to the fact that we parked in a large, multi-level parking garage recently constructed into the side of the mountain. This certainly isn’t the first parking garage we have encountered. They were all over Siena and parts of Sicily. It simply reminded me that we weren’t visiting a charming little town. We were visiting a major tourist hot spot, set up to take advantage of the situation in any way they could. That perspective is perhaps overly harsh. In truth, Assisi was hit by a major earthquake in 1997 which damaged large portions of the town. During the rebuilding process they had the opportunity to do things differently and decided to take it.

Our first stop after climbing our way up to the city was the Piazza del Commune, complete with requisite fountain.

Just off the main square is what remains of a 15^th century, fresco-painted, vaulted ceiling.

A half mile trek, mostly downhill, brings you to the first stop on our San Francesco pilgrimage, the Basilica di San Francesco. The basilica and the collection of other sites related to San Francesco is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a huge complex. What you first encounter is the upper church.

The interior was badly damaged by the earthquakes and was closed for restoration for over two years. When you enter, you are greeted by painted frescoes covering every square inch of every surface. The interiors of many churches, including all on this trip, are off-limits for photographs so I have nothing to show. It is clear that many of the frescoes have been refurbished and reworked as part of the restoration following the earthquake. It must be difficult to decide what to do in a case like that. Do you leave it be, or attempt to restore it to its former state? I guess the decision has as much to do with function as anything else. This place isn’t a museum; it is a healthy, functioning place of worship. What is also provides is a chance to see what all of the other churches with plain interiors might have looked like before their decorative finish was lost. By the way, Giotto painted many of the frescoes, including the famous sermon to the birds.

The platform which supports the upper church is actually the roof of the lower church, another full-sized edifice. The entrance to the left of and below the entrance to the main basilica is accessed by going down a long flight of stairs. While inside we were able to observe part of a mass and visit the tomb of St. Francis. Parts of the church were closed to visitors because of the mass. Carolyn was able to see a few of the works, including a famous portrait of St. Francis by Cimabue, that interested her during a short break between the celebrations of mass. There is a great deal more building there than is open to the public since there is also a large Franciscan monastery.

Following lunch with a spectacular view overlooking the surrounding countryside we made our way back through town to the Basilica di Santa Chiara (St. Clare). Santa Chiara was a contemporary of San Francesco. St. Francis founded the Franciscan Order; St. Clare founded the Poor Ladies which was eventually renamed in her honor to the Order of the Poor Clares. Both were from Assisi and are the patron saints of the town. The local stone used in the construction of the basilica, unlike the grey of Viterbo, is a beautiful mix of white and pink. While inside the church, we visited the tomb of Santa Chiara and viewed a collection of relics related to both Francis and Clare, including St. Clare's really comfy-looking hair shirt.

Following our visit to Santa Chiara’s we headed back to our car to explore the surrounding area.

Our next stop took us slightly downhill to the Santuario di San Damiano. It was there that Clare organized her followers and founded her order. She also died there. Given the importance of the place, I suspect it is overrun by visitors during the high part of the tourist season. However, unlike the hustle and bustle of the town, San Damiano was a calm and peaceful oasis during our visit.

Our final stop was high on Monte Subasio at a place referred to as the Hermitage. There was no signage and we had to take it on faith that we were on the right road as we climbed up, up, up. Apparently, there is a walking path through the woods, but I was in no mood for a 90 minute climb no matter how scenic. Without meaning to offend anyone, St. Francis went a bit loopy toward the end of his life. In addition to being the first to receive the stigmata (via heavenly laser, if the frescoes can be trusted), he spent months living in a cave up on the mountain while fasting and praying. Our trip took us to a beautiful, isolated natural area where we saw the caves that he and some of his contemporary brothers lived in. The cave of San Francesco has been incorporated into a building so it is difficult to imagine what it might have been like. We did visit two other, unimproved caves as well as the place, shown below, where St. Francis would lie out and look up at the heavens.

All in all, it was a great visit which exceeded Carolyn’s already high expectations. We also sighted a mendicant monk, dressed in a patched burlap robe and walking around in bare feet.