Saturday, March 23, 2013

Assisi: Pax et Bene



What can I say about Assisi? It was beautiful, fun, historical, and the food was delicious. St. Francis was a pretty cool guy, its understandable why some might think he was a little crazy. Not every merchant's son decides to live in the woods at the bottom of the hill in nothing but a hooded cloak. Rightly so, I think that is still considered crazy today. But, his thoughts of simplicity, peace, and doing good is a great mantra.

Santa Maria degli ngeli

Once we got off the train, we walked over to St. Francis' Chapel, Santa Maria degli Angeli. This church was so cool. It's really big, so you might be wondering why I just called it a chapel. The church literally surrounds the chapel.

Chapel of St. Francis
  It was really great. There are beautiful frescoes inside and outside of it. It was an amazing sight. Then we took a bus into the heart of town, on the top of a large hill. Here, we saw the Basilica of St. Francis where his body is entombed.


Inside of the lower church
The church looked like something straight out of 'Game of Thrones.' King's Landing, anyone?  Inside, there are actually two churches. The lower church is the most beautiful. The stained glass in both churches was absolutely stunning. It literally made my mouth drop.


Pax (Peace); outside of the basilica

We also saw the church of St. Claire and prayed at her tomb. The view from the Piazza there was breathtaking, so naturally we stopped and posed.


We all explored this charming town, got some pasta with truffle oil. The we went to the bakeries to get some Umbrian specialties. Then, Christine and I bought our souvenirs: leather sandals in the style of St. Francis.

Bag from the bakery, with St. Francis
 After getting one last view of the city down below, we got on the bus and made our way back to Roma.
Santa Maria degli Angeli


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