Dear Readers,
Thank you to all who responded to my first Haber Report from Umbria. Your comments are all appreciated.
Today was a wonderful day. We spent it in Assisi – probably the most well known town in Umbria because of St. Francis. He is one of only two patron saints of Italy. Assisi is a beautiful medieval town. (I’m so glad I remembered to bring sneakers with me!) It’s about half an hour from Perugia. You park on the outskirts of the medieval town & then you walk (& walk & walk—15,000 steps today; Marty is NOT thrilled!)
Assisi is filled with churches & beautiful meandering streets. Here’s the entrance to the medieval town.
The most important religious site in Assisi is the Basilica of San Francisco (St. Francis) because this is where St. Francis is buried. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has stunning frescoes. It is actually 2 separate churches – the lower church and the upper church. Photography was not allowed inside, BUT I sneaked a few!
This is the outside of the basilica and St. Francis’ coffin.
The most beautiful chapel in the basilica is the chapel of St. Martin (no comment!) of Tours.
I was asked to include some photos of us so here’s one:
The basilica includes a museum which had some lovely majolica pottery.
This is a view from the basilica. You can see how stunning the countryside is.
This is a rose window in the upper church and the most famous fresco of St. Francis feeding the birds.
My second favorite site in Assisi was the Temple of Minerva. The outside has columns dating from the time of Augustus (63 BC – AD 14). The sanctuary is dedicated to the goddess of wisdom.
And here are some more lovely views from the top.
At this point we needed some sustenance. Here’s lunch:
On the outskirts of Assisi is a monastery and hermitage called Eremo Della Carceri. It is located in a forest and known for its serene atmosphere and spiritual significance. St. Francis spent time there living in a cave.
(I didn’t mean to duplicate the photo but can’t figure out why to delete it!)
Dinner tonight was at Ada which is a one star Michelin restaurant. That’s as high as you can get in Umbria! It was an amazing meal; 9 courses including the extra desserts. Each course was unique. A fabulous ending to a wonderful day.
That’s it for today. Tomorrow we visit Gubbio. Keep those comments coming.
❤️
Irene