maggie.in.orvieto: a.rainy.day.in.assisi

Another Friday means another field trip, and this past weekend took us to the town of Assisi. Famous as the site of St. Francis' Basilica, Assisi is a charming white and pink town seemingly frozen in its Medieval stage (though I doubt the Middle Ages had as many shops shops selling glow-in-the-dark rosaries and light-up St. Francis statues...). Braving crazy wind and chilly rain, our herd of bright umbrellas migrated up the streets of Assisi as we shivered from one church to the next.

Our professor Marco was born in Assisi and still calls this hill town home--therefore he was excited and ready to show off his pride and joy. Our first VERY enthusiastic stop was the Basilica's lower level, following the path tread by Medieval pilgrims, through the middle church, down to the crypt and up to the astoundingly vertical and restored upper church.

We approached the triple layered church in the typical fashion...thus a typical picture. (I think I have this exact same picture from my 2004 trip to Assisi, except of course, with a blue sky).

The stormy skies that never seemed to move from their spot directly over the city gave the town a darker, less romantic attitude, holding more true to its Gothic architecture than to its bubbly pink and white regional stones. The gorgeous rose window of the lower church was the perfect example of the detailed Medieval features of the city:

Also home to the beginnings of the Poor Clares, St. Francis' Basilica is complemented on the opposite side of town by the "girlier" pink and white church.

For a few brief moments as we walked out of the Basilica of St. Clare, the sun peeked through the clouds and gave the top of Assisi's hill the dramatic and surreal appearance of a Hollywood movie set...(and apparently it's often used as one!)

We were turned loose for a short lunch break, and Marco pointed us toward a little cafeteria along the side of St. Clare's, where we snacked on pizza and the most delicious black olive pasta ever (slowly Italy is transforming me into an olive fan, one dish at a time...). Then I did what I do best as a tourist: wander aimlessly. Taking the little alleys of Assisi, you eventually find these nondescript passages that suddenly open up on the valley below, framing it perfectly..

(though these shots remind me of the torturous and endless hours I spent painting individual roof tiles my senior year of high school when I painted one of these Assisi alleys, they're still quite stunning...)

The overlook next to St. Clare's is the perfect spot in Assisi to just stop and stare.

The history of St. Francis often overshadows the history of Assisi itself. Above is the temple to Minerva (now a hideous Baroque Christian Church inside). This insanely well-preserved Roman temple front is one of the few remaining full facades of its kind. Stuck in the middle of Assisi, this extremely rare blip of antiquity is evidence of Assisi's past as a Roman city.

Assisi has created a fantastic underground museum that runs right through the excavated Roman ruins (found directly below the main civic piazza). Of course, we had to go! Carol and Don led us through this interestingly arranged museum, where you are literally thrown into the ruins so closely that you can touch them...