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After renting a car in Salerno, we drove north toward Assisi. We only stayed a single night
in Assisi, but it was a special one since it was our third wedding anniversary.
When choosing our hotels and booking our rooms, getting a room with a nice view was a high priority.
These photos show the same view from our room's balcony just after checking in and again later that night after
returning from dinner.
We took advantage of the remaining daylight to see how much of Rick Steves' "Assisi Welcome Walk" we
could do. Assisi is the birthplace of St. Francis
who founded the Franciscan religious order in the town in 1208, and although St. Francis is considered the patron saint of Italy, St. Rufino is the patron saint of Assisi.
A 1997 earthquake revealed a Roman foundation beneath the floor of the
Cathedral of San Rufino (top).
Glass panels in the floor allow visitors a view of the ruins below. Upon leaving, a women entering
the church stumbled into us because she thought the glass panels were actually openings in the floor and thought
she was going to fall.
The Rocca Maggiore (bottom-left) was built in the 14th century by Cardinal Albornoz in order to establish
papal authority over Assisi. Throughout Assisi there are beautiful views of Umbria. This one (bottom-right)
shows the olive grove of the Poor Clares
in the foreground and was taken in front of the Basilica of St. Clare.
The next morning before leaving Assisi, we visited Saint Francis' Basilica.
Pope Gregory IX laid the first stone of the Lower Basilica the day after the canonisation of St Francis, on July 17th 1228.
The Basilica has two levels and from the inside seemed like two complete cathedrals stacked on top of each other.
Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed inside the basilica.
Here are two photos of Assisi taken on the way back to our car from the basilica. After leaving the hill town, we stopped in lower Assisi to visit the
Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli,
constructed between 1569 and 1679 it encloses a 9th century little church, the Porziuncola. It was here that the young Francis
of Assisi devoted himself wholly to a life of apostolic poverty and thus started the Franciscan movement.
We had enough time to visit one other hill town on our way to
Montepulciano, and since Todi had a convenient location, we decided to stop there.
From the parking lot in Todi we could see the town above us (left).
Our Frommer's guide claimed that 'Restaurant Umbria' had great food and great views (right), both of which
we found to be true.
After lunch we walked to the Franciscan church of San Fortunato (left). Construction of the church
began in 1292 and was mostly finished by the 15th century; however, its facade was never completed.
On our way out of Todi, we stopped by the temple of Santa Maria della Consolazione (right). This Renaissance church was
built from 1508-1607, has a Greek cross plan, and lies just outside the city walls. We entered our hotel in
Montepulciano into our GPS as our new destination, and let it lead us out of town.
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