We chose to visit Assisi from the end of the day, when most of the tourist buses and walkers finish their tour by one day and leave the city in Umbria. We drove up the hill to the underground car park which is located at the top of Assisi. Even here you can see the remains of ruins of the Roman period, surfaced during the construction of the parking lot.
From there, we went to see the remains of an ancient Roman amphitheater, which was taken over and "exploited" by the town in medieval times. In fact, all the houses are all built around its oval wall. Then, through the gates of the city old, we visited one of the towers used as a refuge during the repeated attacks and battles of the medieval period.
After visiting the tower we took the road leading to the church of Santa Chiara. Santa Chiara was a young woman from a wealthy family in Assisi, who joined the Franciscan Order with great sorrow of their families. Has given way to an order called "Poor Clares", which I believe is still active today. The church is the crypt that holds his remains and the wall that surrounds it has a long series of paintings that represent the life and deeds. In the final part are cited his words on his deathbed, that I am quoting from memory, without great precision: "every day of my life, God took care of me with the same love that a mother with her child care .. ".
Assisi is built on a hill looking west across the Umbrian valley. The view is breathtaking, and its beauty is unfortunately not fully captured by the camera. You should see it for yourself to understand what I'm talking about and to appreciate the incredible sfacccettature. The view from the fortress is to beautiful and interesting. Its strength is that that with little effort, you can imagine those days of the medieval period during which the medieval was warned, and the panic attacked those who had to get up the hill before the horse army of raiders arrived noisily in the main square of Assisi.
From the church of Santa Chiara we left with the simple intent to wander a bit 'in the streets of the town. Assisi is a very touristy town, with many foreign visitors, but also many Italian pilgrims. It 's the third most visited pilgrimage site in Italy. The shops of the main roads are very beautiful and many of them have little secrets and hidden histories, as in the original Roman walls and old printing presses used to forge documents and thus help the Jews during the Second World War. We realize that everything is in Assisi history, every corner of the city tells the past.
The square of Assisi is the heart of the city. The original temple of Minerva dating back to Roman times is still there. E 'was converted into a church in the 9th century and fully furnished in baroque style. At the front of the church you can still see the old Roman pavement, with the channels to drain the blood of animal sacrifices.
We then went to the church of S. Stefano. This church was incredible, because it is in sharp contrast to the richly decorated churches and elegant that you see around Assisi. The church of Santo Stefano is "rough, very simple and rather dark and gloomy, with stone walls and exposed wood beams. E 'was built only thinking about a sacred place of worship, without the involvement of architects in the design, and using only local skilled masons. Can you imagine how San Francisco would feel at home here, because the church follows the vocation of the simplicity and poverty that the professed saint. It is said that the church bells rang by themselves when St. Francis died.
From here we went down the narrow medieval streets toward what is considered the main attraction of Assisi, the church erected in honor of St. Francis. Its foundations were dug out after only two years after his death in the mid-1200. This is a huge building, built on three levels, which can be seen for miles in the valley below. The main church is stunning with frescoes by famous painters who deserve a lot of hours to be seen. Unfortunately we entered near closing time and our visit was rather hasty, rapidly crossing the main church down the crypt and then to the tomb of St. Francis. For security reasons, the exact location of the tomb of St. Francis has been kept secret for hundreds of years and when it was discovered in the 20th century, it took three months to locate it exactly! Just think of the fact that there was an earthquake of great intensity in 1997 and many churches, palaces and buildings historians have been severely damaged, both in Assisi and in the surrounding areas. The lowest level of the Basilica of San Francesco, however, has walls 9 feet thick and was not damaged! The upper levels have a wall of "only" 3 feet thick and they have suffered serious damage, so that when the church collapsed, and was reopened to the public only recently, after a long and difficult restoration.
Our decision to visit Assisi at the end of the day was awarded. It was still warm enough (early July), and the crowd of tourists was not at all a problem because many guided tours leave the city in the first half of the afternoon. If you aware of the timing of the closure of the main attractions, this is a great way to enjoy this wonderful city to live it and love it without too much chaos and confusion.
We ended our visit with a great dinner with the traditional Umbrian delicacies and stay in a hotel of Assisi very cute, nice and above all economic. Read more about Assisi, to organize your small tour and book a stay in a hotel in Assisi I highly recommend the website BellaUmbria.net . Online reference point for tourism in Umbria, you will find here all information on events, guesthouses and hotels in the region.
Source: Article Marketing Italy
0 comments:
Post a Comment