Assisi

Wednesday we rented a car and drove down for a couple for days in Assisi, about 2-1/2 hours from Florence.  Of course we were attracted by the fact that it's St Francis' home.  Tre had been there years ago, before the earthquake and wanted Ken to go, too.  We also found a B&B on the web that looked interesting just outside of Assisi, "Alla Madonna del Piatto", where the owner does Italian cooking classes.  So it was a double win for us.

The visit was just phenomenal.  Assisi is a picturesque hill-top town, as the pictures below will show.

Our first view of Assisi

The massive Monastery and Basilica of San Francesco (St Francis).  The Monastery is the long collonaded structure underneath, and the Basilica sits on top.

You can't take your car into town (wouldn't want to even if you could, it's so narrow and steep) but there were lots of places to park.  Actually, we've had quite good experiences so far driving in Italy.  It's not been as hideously expensive as the guide books say (yes, gas is about $6/gal) but I think I'm getting a good daily rate from my GE discount at Hertz.  The roads are marked much better than I expected.  Finally, we've gotten to see some of the Italian countryside and small towns that we wouldn't see any other way.

While there are a ton of tourists around, the churches are very beautiful and spiritual.  It's extra nice that they don't charge you to enter them like they do in Florence.  And thanks to modern technology, all the tour groups have small radio sets so the guide can talk softly and everybody can hear. If there is excessive talking a booming monk's voice comes over a loud speaker and says in a deep voice, "Silenzio!" Forty years ago you'd go into a famous shrine and be deafened by the din of tour guides shouting, each trying to be heard over the  other.  No more.  So it made the church feel like a church.

Here's the piazza leading up to the Basilica.

The Basilica is actually three churches in one - at the bottom is Francis' crypt, buried deep in the rock after he died in 1226 so pilgrims wouldn't pillage it for bones and relics.  In fact, the exact spot was lost for several hundred years until it was re-discovered in the 1800's. The crypt was closed for renovation.  Have seen masses of bones in other churches, this was not a problem for us.  Then on top of the crypt is the original dark, Romanesque church built just a couple years after his death.  On top of that is a brighter Gothic church built immediately after the first one.  Francis was immensely popular even before his death, so the Pope at the time wanted to be sure he was properly honored.  You couldn't do photos of course, but I have some poor quality photos of post cards showing the interior.

Interior of the upper church showing stained glass and lots of frescoes

One of the 28 huge frescoes (by the artist Giotto) surrounding the upper church, this one showing Francis and his disciples meeting with the Pope and receiving approval to begin the Franciscan order.

We were lucky enough to be able to get a guided tour of the churches on Friday morning, given by a Franciscan from Nazareth, Pa.  He was very skillful not only in talking about the building and the art, but especially in bringing Francis alive as a person with a unique and powerful calling for a simple, honest life.  It was quite inspirational.  The Franciscan was part of a third order of the religious, the first being the Franciscan Monks, the second being nuns of the order of Saint Clare and the third being this order that did not wear robes, but still carried on the work and teachings of St. Francis.

On Thursday we went our separate ways.  Tre  took part in a fabulous cooking class.  It was one of the few times she took a cooking class rather than taught it.  The teacher, Letizia who ran the B&B where we were staying, was an incredible cook who learned at her mother's knee.  Letizia and her husband Ruud decided to open a B&B instead of touring the world as entomologists after they had a daughter.  Letizia taught us how to make the best pasta, crostata and had us taste different olive oils, aged balsamic vinegars, cured meats and cheeses.  What a wonderful day!  Ken came at the end to help us enjoy all the food we made and, of course, indulge in some vino.  Lunch was served out on Letizia and Ruud's terrace overlooking the valley and the next hill where St. Frances' church sat.  We were so full that for our dinner we each had an orange.  We couldn't possibly have eaten more. One really weird sidelight.......There were four women in the class and one husband.  All four women were from New Jersey and all from about a 20 mile radius.

Our class.  Letizia is on the left end.  The pasta was used as the base for a heavenly lemon based sauce.

Letizia serving another pasta with a puttanesca sauce.  She had the coolest olive pitter and never bought pitted olives.

A view from the terrace of Letizia and Ruud's house.  The views just went on and on...

The side of the house looking towards the hills.  The grape arbor was just starting to send out shoots.

While Tre was having fun cooking, Ken went back to Assisi and just wandered around getting the feel of the town.  The streets are narrow and winding, and many buildings are reachable only by stairs.

The center of Assisi.  Yes, that's a Roman temple left of center.

Inside the temple is a Baroque style church!

The other end of Assisi's main piazza.

He visited the Basilica of Santa Chiara (St. Clare), a contemporary of Francis's who founded the Poor Clares.

Basilica di Santa Chiara

While beautiful, it was nowhere near as ornately decorated as Francis' memorial.

He then walked down the hill to the Sanctuary of San Damiano, where Francis first heard the voice of God.  This was a serene place on the hillside; a modest church and monastery that probably looks much like it did then.

The courtyard of San Damiano

The path from the monastery

You could certainly feel the presence of Francis there.  As our tour guide said, there's probably no one in the world who doesn't like St. Frances.  

If there is one place in Italy that everyone should have the opportunity to visit, it's. Assisi, The City of Peace.