Pete, Maz and all that Jazz: Assisi

Heading east again, we left Chuisi and

took the road to Assisi. Chuisi is at the eastern edge of the Tuscany region of Italy. Castiglione del Lago, a few miles to the northeast, is just into the Umbria region while Assisi is about at the center of Umbria. Despite all of the hype one hears about the beauties of Tuscany, the parts that we traversed were not really exciting. Around Pisa it is very flat with a general unkempt air. Moving further from the coast toward Florence it improves considerably,

but was never more than pleasant rolling hills, partly wooded and partly farmed. Possibly, the southern areas of Tuscany have a little more to write home about. Traveling east out of Tuscany into Umbria, for our taste at least, there is a steady improvement in the splendor of the countryside. The first sight of Assisi, like that of Pisa, was stunning - it looked like a picture from a travel guide. A huge, predominately white colored city seemingly painted on a hillside. And, wonder of wonders, that first impression was not dashed even after

hiking all around the city and poking into numerous corners away from the popular attractions.
In the grander places, like Assisi, the Italians are a bit fussy about their churches. First of all, when they are open, there is a charge of $6.00 to $10.00 per person to go inside and, even though this was the "off" season, there was usually a line of enthusiastic punters several hundred yards long. At the people throughput rate achieved, the sightseeing inside the building must have been at a pace approaching a slow jog. Further, notwithstanding temperatures in the high eighties, no shorts, tee shirts, or anything of that ilk are permitted inside the buildings and photography, video, and pets are all similarly proscribed. On this basis, we were clearly persona non-grata and were compelled to take a rain check on most of the major church interiors. Nonetheless, there were plenty of other photo opportunities and, huge as the city is, just getting to the highlights in the outside world turned out to be a full-time activity. Following are some of the sights seen, organized into groups so that it is easy to skip "narrow streets" for example, if this kind of thing overexcites you. Pretty ironic that the 25,000 inhabitants of Assisi seem to be making a fat living off the memory of St Frances, the Apostle of Poverty.

The Main Attraction - Basilica
de San Francesco

From outside the city wall

Entry to the huge courtyard

The courtyard and the collonades

Inside the collonade

A smaller courtyard behind the main building

Facade of basilica

Other notable Assisi features

Rocco Maggiore (Big Fort) from a square

Rocco Maggiore again

Tower of the People in the Piazza del Comune

Temple of Minerva adjacent to the Tower of the People

View to the east near the Piazza del Comune

Cattedrale de San Rufino. Built in the 12th century,
this Cathedral takes a back seat to St Francis Basilica
even though it contains the font in which
St Francis and St Claire were baptized