Today the entire group boarded a tour bus that Bob hired just for our group at 7:30 a.m. to head for Assisi. We arrived in Assisi at around 10:00 a.m. and met our guide, Giuseppe. Bob has gotten to know all of the talented tour guides personally over the years, so he just calls them ahead of time and sets up a group tour. Giuseppe is a middle-aged man who lives in the country just outside of Assisi. He speaks English very well and has lived in Italy all his life. He was a great tour guide for our group. Everything he told us was very interesting, and he kept our attention very well by telling jokes. He told us one such joke when he was trying to describe how old everything in Assisi was and how much of what is there is the original architecture and art. He said it was very unlike Elizabeth Taylor's face, which is all new.
We toured the Basilicas di San Francesco (St. Francis) and Santa Chiara (St. Clare) with Giuseppe before splitting up. Both basilicas are built above the tomb of their namesake saints. You can go
downstairs and view the tombs. St. Clare's body is uncorrupted, and she is inside a glass case. They covered her body with wax a few years ago, so she doesn't really look real, but it is her real body. St. Francis is enclosed in a stone coffin. The Basilica of San Francesco is the more beautiful of the two, in my opinion. It is kind of ironic, because St. Francis preached living a simple life unhindered by materials, and the basilica built to honor him is probably one of the most fancy and expensive of its era. And today so much money is made through attracting tourists to the basilica and selling them souvenirs. Perhaps that is why St. Francis is in a stone coffin--they don't want the tourists to see him rolling in his grave.
The basilica of St. Francis has a few very interesting stories behind it. When it was being built, the pope called in architects from France to plan it. This is because St. Francis' name means Frenchman, and his mother was from France. The style they used for the basilica was the Gothic style, so the Basilica di San Francesco became the first Gothic style church in Italy. A lot of blue paint is used in the frescos in the church, and this is all created with the pigment lapis lazuli. This was a hugely expensive pigment at the time that had to be shipped to Italy from Afghanistan. It actually took several years just to get the pigment, but the results are stunning. I was not allowed to take pictures inside, otherwise I would show you. But the ceilings in the upper basilica look just like a night sky, and there are gold stars painted on it. The beauty of it just can't be described in words. Another interesting story about the basilica occurred in WWII. There are the basement, lower, and upper levels to the basilica, and, unknown to most people at the time of WWII, there is also a space between the lower and upper levels. So during WWII, all of the Jews in Assisi hid in this space until townspeople could furnish them with fake IDs and help them leave the city. One Nazi officer who was familiar with Assisi realized what they were doing, but he kept his mouth shut. There is a movie about this event called Assisi Underground. If you watch it, let me know how it is, because I want to see it now.
After the tour of the churches, the group split up and we all went to find places to eat lunch. The majority of the group ended up together in a very quaint sit-down restaurant. I ordered ravioli, and it was, as all the food here is, delicious. I also had a quarter-liter of red wine for only two Euros. It will be so different when I get back to America and can't order wine at fancy restaurants at such a bargain. After lunch I hiked up the hill with Eldon and Carla and saw an old castle, with a sweet view! Then we were going to go to mass at the Basilica di San Francesco at 2:00, but we found out the next mass was at 5:00. We went down to the tomb area to pray for a bit, which I was glad that we got to do. I often feel almost guilty when we just go into churches, look at the art, then leave without praying. They were built for the purpose of prayer, so I try to remember that while I am in them.
I also bought a lot of gifts and souvenirs at the basilica, but I can't talk about most of them because some of you who read this will be receiving a gift. I did buy one thing for myself though. It is a large, Franciscan tau crucifix made out of olive wood, with Jesus made out of a silver metal. It was kind of a splurge, but I just thought it would be so awesome to have it in my house some day. Every time I look at it I will remember my time in Italy and my visit to Assisi. Well, that's all for now. Tomorrow I head to Lucca, so there will be more to come.
We toured the Basilicas di San Francesco (St. Francis) and Santa Chiara (St. Clare) with Giuseppe before splitting up. Both basilicas are built above the tomb of their namesake saints. You can go
downstairs and view the tombs. St. Clare's body is uncorrupted, and she is inside a glass case. They covered her body with wax a few years ago, so she doesn't really look real, but it is her real body. St. Francis is enclosed in a stone coffin. The Basilica of San Francesco is the more beautiful of the two, in my opinion. It is kind of ironic, because St. Francis preached living a simple life unhindered by materials, and the basilica built to honor him is probably one of the most fancy and expensive of its era. And today so much money is made through attracting tourists to the basilica and selling them souvenirs. Perhaps that is why St. Francis is in a stone coffin--they don't want the tourists to see him rolling in his grave.The basilica of St. Francis has a few very interesting stories behind it. When it was being built, the pope called in architects from France to plan it. This is because St. Francis' name means Frenchman, and his mother was from France. The style they used for the basilica was the Gothic style, so the Basilica di San Francesco became the first Gothic style church in Italy. A lot of blue paint is used in the frescos in the church, and this is all created with the pigment lapis lazuli. This was a hugely expensive pigment at the time that had to be shipped to Italy from Afghanistan. It actually took several years just to get the pigment, but the results are stunning. I was not allowed to take pictures inside, otherwise I would show you. But the ceilings in the upper basilica look just like a night sky, and there are gold stars painted on it. The beauty of it just can't be described in words. Another interesting story about the basilica occurred in WWII. There are the basement, lower, and upper levels to the basilica, and, unknown to most people at the time of WWII, there is also a space between the lower and upper levels. So during WWII, all of the Jews in Assisi hid in this space until townspeople could furnish them with fake IDs and help them leave the city. One Nazi officer who was familiar with Assisi realized what they were doing, but he kept his mouth shut. There is a movie about this event called Assisi Underground. If you watch it, let me know how it is, because I want to see it now.
After the tour of the churches, the group split up and we all went to find places to eat lunch. The majority of the group ended up together in a very quaint sit-down restaurant. I ordered ravioli, and it was, as all the food here is, delicious. I also had a quarter-liter of red wine for only two Euros. It will be so different when I get back to America and can't order wine at fancy restaurants at such a bargain. After lunch I hiked up the hill with Eldon and Carla and saw an old castle, with a sweet view! Then we were going to go to mass at the Basilica di San Francesco at 2:00, but we found out the next mass was at 5:00. We went down to the tomb area to pray for a bit, which I was glad that we got to do. I often feel almost guilty when we just go into churches, look at the art, then leave without praying. They were built for the purpose of prayer, so I try to remember that while I am in them.
I also bought a lot of gifts and souvenirs at the basilica, but I can't talk about most of them because some of you who read this will be receiving a gift. I did buy one thing for myself though. It is a large, Franciscan tau crucifix made out of olive wood, with Jesus made out of a silver metal. It was kind of a splurge, but I just thought it would be so awesome to have it in my house some day. Every time I look at it I will remember my time in Italy and my visit to Assisi. Well, that's all for now. Tomorrow I head to Lucca, so there will be more to come.
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