May 21, 2024 - Classic Italy
Assisi
The next morning our tour bus left Perugia for a short drive to Assisi, a well-preserved medieval hill town designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its art and architecture, but most of all the hometown of St. Francis, the revered patron saint of animals and founder of the Franciscan order. Assisi is home to the Basilica di San Francesco -- the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi -- built to honor Assisi's beloved saint and favorite son and his final resting place.
Our first view of Assisi, another hill top town, from the tour bus. The Basilica of St. Francis is clearly visible at left.
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone (c. 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italian mystic, poet, and Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Christian life of poverty, he became a beggar and itinerant preacher.
Francis of Assisi was born c. 1181, one of the children of an Italian father, Pietro di Bernardone dei Moriconi, a prosperous silk merchant, and a French mother, Pica di Bourlemont, about whom little is known except that she was a noblewoman originally from Provence.
From Rick Steves: "In 1202, young Francesco Bernardone donned armor and rode out to battle the Perugians. The battle went badly, and Francis was captured and imprisoned for a year. He returned a changed man. He avoided friends and his father's lucrative business and spent more and more time outside the city walls fasting, praying , and searching for something. In 1206, a vision changed his life, culminating in a dramatic confrontation. He stripped naked before the town leaders, threw his clothes at his father -- turning his back on the comfortable material life -- and declared his loyalty go God alone. Idealistic young men flocked to Francis, and they wandered Italy like troubadours, spreading the joy of the Gospel to rich and poor. Francis became a cult figure, attracting huge crowds. They'd never seen anything like it -- sermons preached outdoors, in the local language (not Church Latin), making God accessible to all. Francis' new order of monks was also extremely unmaterialistic, extolling poverty and simplicity. Despite their radicalism, the order eventually gained the pope's approval and spread through the world.
Like Jesus, Francis tauht by example, living without worldly goods and aiming to love all creation. A huge monastic order grew out of his teachings, which were gradually embraced (some say coopted) by the Church.
"Francis' message caused a stir. Not only did he follow Christ's teachings, he followed Christ's lifestyle, living as a poor, wandering preacher. He traded a life of power and riches for one of obedience, poverty, and chastity. He was never ordained as a priest, but his influence on Christianity was monumental. Francis treated every creature -- animal, peasant, pope -- with equal respect. He and his 'brothers' (friars) slept in fields, begged for food, and exuded the joy of non-materialism. Franciscan friars were known as the 'Jugglers of God,' modeling themselves on French troubadours (jugglers) who roved the countryside singing, telling stories, and cracking jokes. In an Italy torn by conflict between towns and families, Francis promoted peace and the restoration of order. While the Church was waging Crusades [recovering previously held Christian areas forcibly taken by Muslims], Francis pushed ecumenism and understanding. And the Franciscan message had an impact. In 1288, just 62 years after Francis died, a Franciscan became pope (Nicholas IV). Francis' message also led to Church reforms that many believed delayed the Protestant Reformation by a century."
"This richly decorated basilica seems to contradict the teachings of the poor monk it honors, but it was built as an act of religious and civic price to remember the hometown saint."
Francis died in Assisi in 1226, at the age of 45.
One of the most venerated figures in Christianity, Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on 16 July 1228.
He is commonly portrayed wearing a brown habit with a rope tied around his waist, featuring three knots symbolizing the three Franciscan vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Rick Steves calls the Basilica of St. Francis one of the artistic and religious highlights of Europe. "It rises where, in 1226, St. Francis was buried outside of his town on the 'Hill of the Damned' -- now called the 'Hill of Paradise'. The Basilica is frescoed from top to bottom with scenes by the leading artists of the day: Cimabue, Giotto, Simone Martini, and Pietro Lorenzettl. A 13-century historian wrote, 'No more exquisite monument to the Lord has been built.'"
The basilica, which was begun in 1228, is built into the side of a hill and comprises two churches (known as the Upper Church and the Lower Church) and a crypt, where the remains of the saint are interred. The interior of the Upper Church is an important early example of the Gothic style in Italy. The Upper and Lower Churches are decorated with frescoes by numerous late medieval painters from the Roman and Tuscan schools, and include works by Cimabue, Giotto, Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti, and possibly Pietro Cavallini. The range and quality of the works give the basilica a unique importance in demonstrating the outstanding development of Italian art of this period, especially if compared with the rest of Christian Europe.
Unfortunately, no photography whatsoever was allowed in the Basilica. And our ferocious tour guide enforced it. Some guy who was not even in our tour group took a picture, and she yelled at him!
The following pictures of the inside are from postcards we bought.
This is the Lower Basilica. The ceilings were very low and it looked very Byzantine to me.
The Upper Basilica which was most impressive. The frescoes were beautiful. Keep in mind, this was done before the Renaissance which wouldn't come until the 15th and 16th-centuries, although it could be argued that the ideas characterizing the Renaissance had their origin in Florence at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries.
The Roman temple currently houses a church, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, built in 1539 and renovated in Baroque style in the 17th century. As you can see, it has a tall bell tower.
The Assisi Cathedral is at left and Basilica of St. Clare ata right.
Photo by, you guessed it, Hagai Agmon-Snir.
