Assisi, Italy
Last Friday, October 20th, I awoke bright and early to catch a 6:55am plane to Rome. The entire FI staff journeyed from there to Assisi, home of saints Francis and Clare. Our bus arrived in the medieval hill town just before noon, giving us some time to settle in before lunch. We stayed at a Capuchin dormitory-type place just outside the city wall (the Caps are one of the orders of Franciscans) which had pretty nice facilities and served pretty tasty multi-course meals. In keeping with Italian custom, we took a siesta after Friday lunch before venturing into the city. I joined John (my boss) and a small group as we entered into Assisi for the first time. It was somewhat overcast, but not too unpleasant and we were able to sit outside and enjoy a coffee (or ice cream, in my case, since I don’t do coffee). Following that, a couple others and I parted ways with the rest of the group to do some exploring/window shopping before heading back for dinner and some drinks.
Entering one of the city’s gates
Evening view of some church bells
On Saturday morning a group of us ascended an hour’s worth of hills to the hermitages Francis used to frequent. It wasn’t too difficult to see why he’d go off to this area with only the occasional cave for shelter from the elements—the forest was beautiful with moss-covered trees and lush foliage creating a tapestry of rich greens. In addition to crouching in some of his caves, I wandered around the mystical area and just got lost for awhile. I can’t really put the beauty of the place into words and the pictures hardly do it justice, but hopefully they’ll give you some idea of the place.
One of several donkeys encountered on the climb to the Carceri
One of several statues of St Francis in the area. I liked this one’s inclusion of many faith traditions
Moss-covered trees in the majestic forest
View over the Carceri chapel down to some more statues
Overlooking the valley
I made it back down the hillside just in time for lunch, after which I joined a different group to wander into the city again—this was to be the pattern for the weekend: dining and exploring with a rotating cast of characters, which was a good way to get to know some of my co-workers a bit better. Anyway, we stopped into a bar for a special coffee drink recommended by an Italian friend of the organization before making our way to the cathedral of San Francesco.
There, John rented everyone headsets so he could give us a guided tour. Aside from my misgivings about saint veneration and the fact that having a huge cathedral in his honor would is the complete antithesis of what Francis would have wanted, the place was gorgeous. There are actually two sanctuaries on top of each other. The lower one is a bit more intimate feeling with paintings by Cimabue and others. The upper was magnificant in scale and adornment, featuring mural work by Giotto displaying biblical stories and the life of Francis. John explained many of the parallels to us and it was nice to have my first experience of this era of Art History coming to life. Again, 6 years ago when I was sitting in 5400 DAAP staring at a projected image of these very frescos I never imagined I’d be seeing them in person.
Stealth mode: photography isn’t allowed in the cathedral, but I wasn’t using a flash, so I just had to be secretive. Here’s some of the fresco work in the lower church
John fills us in on some history
The crew in the upper church (Giotto frescos in the background)
A shot of the vaulted ceilings so you might be able to see just how impressive this place is
We made our way back to the city’s main hub, Piazza del Commune, where we learned a bit more about Francis and then stopped into a bar for a beer before dinner.
Cheers!
After our meal, everyone gathered together for some socialization and Grappa and Limoncello. Grappa is a really strong liquor made from distilled grape leaves, in the same lines as Everclear, paint thinner, and other things you shouldn’t put into your body. Limoncello is a liqueur that basically tastes like melted lemonheads. All in all, it was a nice cap to the evening.
Pick your poison…
Fresh olives
On Sunday morning we walked down to San Damiano, the small church where Francis was first called by God (through a crucifix that literally spoke to him) and where Clare and the sisters later lived. Nestled in the middle of a grove of olive trees, the church was quite beautiful.
A crucifix that hangs in San Damiano. Christ appears to be wearing different expressions depending on where you are standing
Yaron checking out some of the fresco work
A brilliantly-colored bush on the outskirts of San Damiano
Later that afternoon, we took the bus down into the valley below to go to the Basilica di Santa Maria Degli Angeli (Church of Mary of the Angels). Fun fact: Franciscans orginally settled the California coast so all the towns are named after people and places from Assisi (i.e. Santa Clara, San Diego, San Francisco, etc.). The city of Los Angeles is actually named for this church. While impressive from the outside, I felt the interior of the church was trying too hard. However, it’s basically built around the Porziuncola which is a small church that Francis frequented.
Yep, this is where LA gets its name. (That’s the FI staff out front)
Mary welcoming us
Another view (including the dome) from a few blocks away
Another statue of Francis, this time commemorating a time he befriended a cicada (he would’ve loved Cincinnati…)
We then headed to a Franciscan-run center for interfaith dialogue where we shared Mass and a nice dinner. The view of the city from the roof of this place was amazing.
On Monday we were given a lot of time to ourselves so I had the chance to go to the cathedral Santa Chiara which now houses the original cross that spoke to Francis as well as Clare’s remains. It is a beautiful church and maybe my favorite location of the trip.
More illegal/stealth photography. I took this shot of the actual cross that spoke to Francis right before being yelled at by some lady
The rest of the day was spent souvenir shopping and locating tiramisu (a successful mission). We boarded a bus around 4pm and headed back to the airport in Rome, eventually landing in Geneva around 11pm after an inspiring and relaxing weekend.
A final statue of Francis with a view to his cathedral. This one commemorates his return home from a Crusade after being told by God in a dream to leave the army
Entering one of the city’s gates
Evening view of some church bells
On Saturday morning a group of us ascended an hour’s worth of hills to the hermitages Francis used to frequent. It wasn’t too difficult to see why he’d go off to this area with only the occasional cave for shelter from the elements—the forest was beautiful with moss-covered trees and lush foliage creating a tapestry of rich greens. In addition to crouching in some of his caves, I wandered around the mystical area and just got lost for awhile. I can’t really put the beauty of the place into words and the pictures hardly do it justice, but hopefully they’ll give you some idea of the place.
One of several donkeys encountered on the climb to the Carceri
One of several statues of St Francis in the area. I liked this one’s inclusion of many faith traditions
Moss-covered trees in the majestic forest
View over the Carceri chapel down to some more statues
Overlooking the valley
I made it back down the hillside just in time for lunch, after which I joined a different group to wander into the city again—this was to be the pattern for the weekend: dining and exploring with a rotating cast of characters, which was a good way to get to know some of my co-workers a bit better. Anyway, we stopped into a bar for a special coffee drink recommended by an Italian friend of the organization before making our way to the cathedral of San Francesco.
There, John rented everyone headsets so he could give us a guided tour. Aside from my misgivings about saint veneration and the fact that having a huge cathedral in his honor would is the complete antithesis of what Francis would have wanted, the place was gorgeous. There are actually two sanctuaries on top of each other. The lower one is a bit more intimate feeling with paintings by Cimabue and others. The upper was magnificant in scale and adornment, featuring mural work by Giotto displaying biblical stories and the life of Francis. John explained many of the parallels to us and it was nice to have my first experience of this era of Art History coming to life. Again, 6 years ago when I was sitting in 5400 DAAP staring at a projected image of these very frescos I never imagined I’d be seeing them in person.
Stealth mode: photography isn’t allowed in the cathedral, but I wasn’t using a flash, so I just had to be secretive. Here’s some of the fresco work in the lower church
John fills us in on some history
The crew in the upper church (Giotto frescos in the background)
A shot of the vaulted ceilings so you might be able to see just how impressive this place is
We made our way back to the city’s main hub, Piazza del Commune, where we learned a bit more about Francis and then stopped into a bar for a beer before dinner.
Cheers!
After our meal, everyone gathered together for some socialization and Grappa and Limoncello. Grappa is a really strong liquor made from distilled grape leaves, in the same lines as Everclear, paint thinner, and other things you shouldn’t put into your body. Limoncello is a liqueur that basically tastes like melted lemonheads. All in all, it was a nice cap to the evening.
Pick your poison…
Fresh olives
On Sunday morning we walked down to San Damiano, the small church where Francis was first called by God (through a crucifix that literally spoke to him) and where Clare and the sisters later lived. Nestled in the middle of a grove of olive trees, the church was quite beautiful.
A crucifix that hangs in San Damiano. Christ appears to be wearing different expressions depending on where you are standing
Yaron checking out some of the fresco work
A brilliantly-colored bush on the outskirts of San Damiano
Later that afternoon, we took the bus down into the valley below to go to the Basilica di Santa Maria Degli Angeli (Church of Mary of the Angels). Fun fact: Franciscans orginally settled the California coast so all the towns are named after people and places from Assisi (i.e. Santa Clara, San Diego, San Francisco, etc.). The city of Los Angeles is actually named for this church. While impressive from the outside, I felt the interior of the church was trying too hard. However, it’s basically built around the Porziuncola which is a small church that Francis frequented.
Yep, this is where LA gets its name. (That’s the FI staff out front)
Mary welcoming us
Another view (including the dome) from a few blocks away
Another statue of Francis, this time commemorating a time he befriended a cicada (he would’ve loved Cincinnati…)
We then headed to a Franciscan-run center for interfaith dialogue where we shared Mass and a nice dinner. The view of the city from the roof of this place was amazing.
On Monday we were given a lot of time to ourselves so I had the chance to go to the cathedral Santa Chiara which now houses the original cross that spoke to Francis as well as Clare’s remains. It is a beautiful church and maybe my favorite location of the trip.
More illegal/stealth photography. I took this shot of the actual cross that spoke to Francis right before being yelled at by some lady
The rest of the day was spent souvenir shopping and locating tiramisu (a successful mission). We boarded a bus around 4pm and headed back to the airport in Rome, eventually landing in Geneva around 11pm after an inspiring and relaxing weekend.
A final statue of Francis with a view to his cathedral. This one commemorates his return home from a Crusade after being told by God in a dream to leave the army
posted by Aaron at 1:45 PM
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