Assisi as a superb example of an Umbrian hill town
Assisi is an exceptional
Umbrian hill town whose development since the thirteenth century has been
guided by an idea. As the birthplace of St Francis (in 1182), and site of
his most significant revelations and works, the town has ever since been
the repository of masterpieces of art and architecture created to honor
his legacy.
The process began only two years after his death and swift canonization.
Assisi had flourished under the Umbrian, Etruscans and Romans - but only
now did it expand beyond its Roman walls. The lower church of the
Basilica of St Francis, a monastery for the new order of Franciscans, has
frescoes by Giotto and Cimabue among others, while the upper church has
more frescoes by Giotto depicting scenes from St Francis's life.
A bad
earthquake in 1997 damaged some of the frescoes. Nearly all of Assisi's
art and architecture, through the Renaissance and later centuries,
reflects St Francis's precepts of simplicity, humility and tolerance of
differing beliefs. The church of Santa Chiara (St Clare, founder of the
Poor Clares Order of nuns) heads the list with its simple Gothic
interior; the Renaissance finds some of its most harmonious expression in
the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (1569), and (remarkably in an
age of flamboyance) the peaceful ambience of the seventeenth-century
palaces of the Bernabei and Giacobetti. This basilica houses the
Porziuncola, Assisi's most moving treasure, the
little chapel ('of the Angels') that Francis restored,
and in which he died.
The only major exceptions to successive
generations' attempts to create a city of peace and
harmony are the twin medieval castles on either
side of town. Today Assisi attracts many
groups and individuals looking
to share the town's beauty,
simplicity and tranquility. When visiting, do not miss the monastery of
St Francis, the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. The best time to
visit Assisi is during the annual Palio, archery contest between the
town's three districts in August, and the Festival of St Francis in early
October. Also do not miss hiking around Mt Subasio.
