Odds n' Ends

This morning's walk began with a steep descent from one of Assisi's gates to the Tescio River. There, one crosses the river on this bridge which, according to a 14th Century document, was crossed by Charlemagne's troops as he was on his way to Rome to be crowned emperor. A 1066 document refers to it as Pons Gallorm. The church behind it was a hospital in 1276. As with many structures, history seems to have left behind occasional descriptive documents, then it won't be mentioned again for centuries before resurfacing. A bit of Assisi can be seen up above looking through the tree branches.

Throughout Assisi one sees curved iron bars on many of the older walls. Why are they there? After six or seven or eight hundred years, even a well built stone wall can start to bulge a bit. Rather than tear down a bulging wall or have it deteriorate further, a hole is drilled and a rod run through it, securing one of these iron bars on the inside with one on the outside, serving as effective reinforcement.

Also, here's a typical doorknocker, and a closer glimpse of some pink Subasio stone.

Here's some pretty flowers and a pretty unsuspecting walker.

Finally, over 150 years ago a cedar seedling somehow made its way to the top of an abandoned tower, somehow found a patch of dirt to survive in, and somehow continues to grow to this day. The tower is hollow on the inside, so the tree lives a solitary but peaceful existence. Ciao.