Day 8 - Journey to Assisi

Day 8 started early with a 2 hour train ride out of Termini Station in Rome to Assisi. The ride gave us an awesome opportunity to see the countryside between Rome and Assisi. Almost everything we saw was mind-bogglingly beautiful. We arrived in Assisi at about 10 at hopped on a bus to the top of the hill where the old city sits.

The bus dropped us off at a plaza near the bottom-most part of the comune where we could see up to the town.

The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi dominates the lower part of the comune. Inside is the Tomb of St. Francis, where he was originally buried and has remained buried. The walls and ceilings of the church are painted by the famous Giotto and retell Francis' life. The church is really magnificent.

Outside the church on a small green the word "PAX" ("peace") has been spelled out in hedges along with the Greek letter "Tau", which Francis adopted as his cross.

While wandering around, a friend and I stumbled upon a road surrounded by tall trees. We decided to do some exploring.

The view looking back towards the town along the road was absolutely stunning.

What we ended up stumbling upon was Il Cimitero Comunale d'Assisi, the Communal Cemetery of Assisi. It was actually a nice contrast to compare to the Vatican Necropolis that we saw yesterday. The cemetery was a modern day (opened 1863, with people still being buried there and plenty of room to expand) city of the dead... literally. The cemetery had roads, the mausoleums were nicer than some peoples' homes, and the place was full of people. The number of graves was staggering. What I couldn't get over was just how amazingly beautiful the place was. Flowers adorned every gravestone, crypt, and mausoleum. If I were able to choose where to be buried, I would choose a place like this.

We returned to town for a group lunch. Going through the ancient streets was incredible. The roads and avenues were in no way ordered or systematic, and the whole town just snaked up the mountain. This made for some awesome little niches.

The oldest building in the town is actually, similar to the Forum Romanum, the Temple of Minerva. This building was built as a Roman pagan temple and has only survived the centuries because of its conversion into a church.

Temple of Minerva

After lunch, four of us decided to hike the rest of the way up the mountain to the Rocca Maggiore, an ancient castle fort placed on the mountain to inspire fear in the town below. Unfortunately, there was an entrance fee for the castle so we just stayed outside. That being said, the view alone was worth the hike.

Panorama of the countryside from the top

The cemetery from the mountain

The wind started to pick up as we headed down the mountain. I took a quick video of the grass on the side of the mountain looking away from Assisi just to show you how beautiful it was. You can't actually play the video to my knowledge (it's Blogger's fault) but you can still see it.

After reconvening, we hopped back on the bus to go into the main town of Assisi. Here sits the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. This church is one of the most important places for Franciscans as inside the church holds a small building in front of the altar. This building, called the Porziuncola, is the building where Francis officially started the Franciscan order and where he brought his brothers to live in poverty. Unfortunately, we arrived just as Mass was starting, so we could only be inside for a brief period of time. Below, I have a stock image of the Porziuncola just to give you a sense.

The seal in the courtyard of the basilica, showing the Porziuncola

The Porziuncola inside Santa Maria degli Angeli

We hopped back on the train in Assisi and pulled into Termini Station at about 8:30. We picked a restaurant on the way home for another group meal before finally turning in for the night.

I decided that I would attempt laundry at 12:30 when I was finally in and settled at the College. Let's just say that I had a rather unsavory experience with the washing machine. I finally got my clothes at about 2am, at which time I hung them by my open window to dry.

At about 4am I thought that the Lord had broken His covenant to never again destroy the world by flood. The most explosive, bright, intense thunderstorm I had every experienced started in the early morning. It was definitely a great way to end a very long and tiring day!

Tomorrow we have a free afternoon! Prof. Coolman suggested that we rest and get ready and packed for our trip to Siena on Tuesday.

Thus ends the 8th day.