Assisi

Sunday, October 10th 
10-10-10

Assisi with the fortress in the background

The bottom portion of the town with a nice little
view of the valley and mountains in the way background

Today was another great day and a perfect time to end the weekend with. We Met at the train station this morning (like usual) and hopped on a bus to Assisi with our program, ISA. It was about a three-hour bus ride to Assisi, but most of us got a little nap in during the drive. Assisi is a town located in the Umbria region (just like Florence is in the Tuscany region of Italy), which is on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It was the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Franciscan religious order. The town is dominated by two medieval castles.

We arrived to the town and had a two-hour walking tour, highlighting the main basilicas and temples of the town. So much history and beautiful medieval architecture! We saw the Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi, which is divided into a lower and upper church with fresco paintings of scenes of the life of St. Francis (they were painted by someone pretty famous, but I can’t seem to remember his name). 

The Basilica of San Francesco d' Assisi
There were letters carved into the lawn that stand
for peace, which is what St. Francis strived for.

An earthquake damaged the basilica in 1997, which also killed four people. There was a memorial set up in their honor near the door and the guide said there are a constant flow of flowers set up there in their honor. Besides the Basilica of San Francesco, we saw the Basilica of Santa Chiara (St. Clare), which contains the tomb of St. Clare (it was her actual body covered in a layer of wax!) and more beautiful frescoes and paintings, and also the temple of Minerva.

The houses and shops were all so beautiful in this town and is much less touristy than any place we have been. It felt like a place I could actually see myself living. Everyone is so friendly and there are beautiful flowers hanging outside every window! There were also so many grapes and grape vines hanging outside peoples homes. This gave the town such a nice feel.

Grapevines growing outside someone's
house. So pretty! 

After our walking tour, we had free time to shop, check out more museums, and grab some lunch. A few of my friends and I packed a sandwich for lunch, so we ate that while looking at the spectacular view, and then did a little shopping. They had the cutest stores in this town, one selling soap, and other bath products, another selling bracelets of every color and width, and another shop that sold home décor items.

Santa Marie Sopra Minerva

It was so much fun to wander and gaze at all these beautiful little shops. We also took a short tour of a museum that is under one of the basilicas, that houses items from the Roman Empire. It was so cool to be able to walk in the underground tunnels and read about what each item was used for back before 100AD! Can you imagine! After our tour, it was time to meet back up with the group and head back to Florence after a very exhausting, but beautiful weekend! 

I love Italians.

A huge washing tub where every woman
in the town would gather on Mondays
to do the weeks laundry. This continued
until the early 1980's, before people in the
town had washing machines! 

Such beautiful flowers and
brick work on every single building!