Assisi Diary - Day 44 - Arrivederci

Tomorrow begins the long trip home, a ride to Rome, a following day flight to Washington D.C., then on to California.  About a 40 hour trek, door to door.

Thanks for following my travels; hope you enjoyed the words and pictures about Umbria. 

Pace e bene.

Arrivederci e ciao.

Assisi Diary - Day 43 - Mountain Views

Today was an ideal day for hiking on Subasio, crisp and cool early, with a gentle wind higher up when the sun started warming.  Visbility was excellent; I would guess about 100 miles looking at the distant Apennines.  One could see individual houses across the valley about ten miles away.  I kept a good pace and, starting at Porta Cappuccini, reached the summit in about two hours and fifteen minutes.  Along the way I encountered three horses "outside the fence", enjoying the gourmet growth along the side of the dirt road.  They each eyed me warily then, without prompting, quickly made their way back through a break in the fence, as if not wanting to be held responsible for being where they weren't supposed to be.
From the summit I made my way over to the largest sinkhole, Mortaro Grande, which can be seen here from a distance.

Here's a closer look at the inside.

From there I continued along high on the mountain, enjoying distant views.  Bettona is on the first rise across the valley; Assisi is just out of sight below to the right; Rome is just over the distant horizon.

Came across some fair areas of wildflowers.

Some quite colorful.

The trail down was the one I had ascended several years ago on my first Subasio climb.  Many hikes later it is no less wonderful and no less an adventure.  There is so much to explore on the mountain, both in natural beauty and historical sites, that one could spend a year wandering here and not tire of it. 

Ciao.







Assisi Diary - Day 42 - Odds and Ends

Things are busy around town in preparation for today's opening of Calendimaggio.  The Piazza del Comune will be cordoned off for the main events.  Crossbow targets have been set up at the end of the piazza, stands have been assembled and those restaurants with outdoor seating have moved indoors to provide more room.

Most Assisi streets are narrow and one-way.  If urban planners had any forsight about automobiles during Roman times or the Middle Ages, they didn't follow through.  Here's what happens when a local bus tries to get by a construction truck.

With a little coaxing, and folding in the passenger side mirror, the driver made it through without a scratch.

Went to mass in Santa Maria degli Angeli this morning.  It's amazing the numbers of pilgrims around the world who travel to visit the Porziuncola.  Also amazing is the numbers of religious orders in and around Assisi.

By the way, in writing I've often used the words "monastero" and "convento".  In the U.S. one typically thinks of monasteries as being for monks, convents for nuns.  However, in Italy typically a "convento" will be home to Franciscans or Dominicans, while a "monastero" will be home to Benedictines, Carthusians or Cistercians.  One may be tempted to think that Assisi would be simply filled with Franciscans, but that would be forgetting that this region had many large Benedictine monasteries before and during the time of Francis.

And this sunny afternoon, it was decision time.

Chocolate and coffee prevail, again.

A few more flowers.

  Ciao.

Assisi Diary - Day 41 - San Silvestro

Took a long walk today around Subasio to see the Abbey of San Silvestro, which sits well up above the town of Collepino.  Much of the morning was foggy, which made for good hiking and interesting trails.

After about a three hour walk over diverse roads and trails I came upon the church, which has an origin of being a hermitage founded by Saint Benedict in the year 523.  In 1025, the then abbot, who became Saint Romuald, dedicated a church there to Saint Sylvester.  Over time much of the church was destroyed, but was eventually restored.

Apparently the apse is the original, going back to the 11th Century or earlier.

In the interior of the apse are the remains of a 15th Century fresco of the Madonna and Child Enthroned.  Interestingly, a 3rd Century Roman sarcophagus was used as the altar.

The grounds currently are nicely cared for by a group of nuns calling themselves The Little Sisters of Mary.

My return route gave me an opportunity to revisit Gabbiano Vecchio, the abandoned town deep in the forest that I wrote about a few days ago.

Ciao.

Assisi Diary - Day 40 - San Quirico and Decorative Doorknockers

Attended mass at the Monastero delle Clarisse di San Quirico (convent of Poor Clares) this morning.  The monastery is 15th Century, although the interior of the church is clearly more recent. (Saint Quirico was a child, martyred with his mother, in the year 304.)

Since today has been spent around town, thought I'd have some fun posting some of Assisi's more illustrious doorknockers.  Many are nicely designed and functional, similar to this one.

However, some might make you think twice before knocking.

Some have ancient origins.  And why go Etruscan when you can have Egyptian?

Wonder if this is the home of a hair stylist?

Time to move on to the top three.  In third place, for its pleasant and welcoming demeanor, is this friendly and unassuming work.

Second place goes to the other extreme.  Not exactly pleasant, welcoming, friendly or unassuming, but you have to be impressed by a doorknocker that looks you straight in the eye.  Someone put a lot of work into this, probably a long time ago.

Furthermore, it has a twin.

Okay.  Time to move on to #1.  First, I'll disclose that I found the winner outside of the gates of Assisi in Santa Maria degli Angeli.  This may elicit a protest from the owner of second place Tweedledee and Tweedledum, but someone was bound to knock my choices.  In any event, #1 really deserves a hand.

Of all the doorknockers, this one is perhaps the most tempting to draw back and follow through with a few good raps.  Just what doorknockers are for.

Ciao.