Assisi

A visit to the birthplace of St. Francis, history's most humble saint, deserves a simple blog title. And so it is.

It was over 100 degrees F when we visited Assisi and its less populous sister city, Spello. I loved Spello, a hilltop town built by the ancient Romans and added to by succeeding generations in the middle ages, Renaissance, and modern times, to create a true gem of a hometown with all its ancient character protected both by fiat (not the car) and by its proud residents.

Una nonna de Spello

We walked up, up, up Spello's cobbled streets and alleyways, chatting with some of the local nonnas, all of whom seemed to have a big pash for our local tour guide, Marco. One nonna gave him some fresh eggs from her daughter's farm, another 88-year-old nonna allowed him to take out her trash, and a third brought out her 50th wedding anniversary photos in their lovely frames to pass around our group so we could share her joy. Talk about being off the beaten path ... Spello is truly a hidden gem.

On to Assisi, again very high up in the hills, but accessible enough -- as it would have to be, as the third biggest religious attraction in Italy after the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, receiving about 5 million visitors annually. In spite of this daunting statistic, and the fact that a steady stream of visitors kept arriving, Assisi was not nearly as crowded as the Rome attractions, and the atmosphere was generally peaceful. Many deeply religious people come to Assisi as pilgrims, and I would say the proportion of really religious people here versus those visiting the Vatican was much higher, or so it seemed to my observing eye.

Basilica of Saint Francis

The Papal Basilica of St. Francis is astonishing, two churches in one, one built atop another, and both decorated every square inch with important and beautiful frescoes.

Way beneath the ground level, I was deeply moved to visit the holy tomb of St. Francis, and it gave me great joy to see that his special companions, the early followers from the days when townspeople were still spitting on the little brothers and calling them "Pazzi" (Crazies!) were entombed in a circle around Francis' relics.

After this we visited the nearby Santa Maria degli Angeli, which enshrines whole the original Porziuncula built with Francis' own hands, and also the rope belt he was wearing when he died, bearing the three knots that represent the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

Santa Maria degli Angeli

The air in the Umbrian hills is fresh and invigorating compared to the atmosphere in Rome. We got full enjoyment of the beauty of the environment in our hilltop hotel, the Roseo, which looked out over the valley with serenity.