We left home around 2:30pm yesterday, planning to arrive in Perugia around 7:30pm. Unfortunately, we hit a mix of rush hour and holiday weekend traffic and didn’t arrive at our hotel room until about 9:30pm. It was a long drive, but the countryside as we drove through Tuscany was beautiful.
This added almost two hours to our drive time.
We are staying at the La Volpe e L’uva. It’s a small farm located in the hills outside of Perugia. They grow olives and grapes all around the farm.
We slept in this morning, getting ready for the day and heading to Assisi around 9:30. Assissi is located about 30 minutes across the valley.
Assisi is famous for being the home of St. Francis. Around the year 1200, this simpled friar of Assisi countered the decadence of the Church with a message of nonmaterialism.
After finding parking, we headed up into town. Being an Umbrian hill town, there was a lot of up and down walking in town.
Climbing up towards the Basilica of St. Clare
Basilica of St. Clare
Our first stop was the Piazza of St Clare. We found a cafe and grabbed some lunch. It wasn't the greatest food (yes, the do have average and below average food in Italy) but it worked for a quick lunch .
View from Piazza St Clare
Basilica St Clare
After lunch we hiked to the top of the town to begin our Rick Steve's walking tour of Assisi.
On our way up the hill we had to walk through this Roman tunnel.
View from higher up in town.
The tour starts at the Roman Amphitheater. This is not like the ampitheaters in Verona or Rome. This was small one in comparison and is now built up with homes inside the walls, but you can still see the perimeter wall and get a feel of what it must have been like. The amphitheater dates from the first century AD while the buildings that now fill it were built in the 13th and 14th centuries.
A bad angle view into the amphitheater. You can see the curved wall.
The next stop was just down the lane where the city gates offered some amazing views of the Umbrian countryside and of the castle on the hill.
Rocca Maggiore
Heading back down the hill into town, we saw the Cathedral of San Rufino. The cathedral is the seat of the local bishop and is a 12th century Romanesque with a Neoclassical interior...it looks like an Italian Catholic church.
At this point we spotted the stairway that leads up to Rocca Maggiore, so we took it. It was a short but warm climb up to the castle. Rocca Maggiore is a 14th century fortification that sits above Assisi.
Brandon was faster up the hill
Looking out through the arrow slits. There is a name for these, but I can't remember what it is.
Rocca Minora, a private castle across town.
One of the tunnels inside the castle walls.
On the way out of the castle we stopped to enjoy a treat. Brandon and Katrina had Solero's, berry fruit ice cream bars. I had a Coke.
Back in town, we wandered the streets until we arrived at the Temple of Minerva. The Romans made this first-century BC Temple of Minerva a centerpiece of their city.
Temple of Minerva
We were making our way to the walking tour's last point of interest, the Basilica of St Francis. Along the way we stopped to see the Church of Santo Stefano, an Italian Romanesque church designed by stonemasons with a basic design.
The bells of Santo Stefano. Legend says that Santo Stefano's bells miraculously rang on October 3, 1226, the day St Francis died.
Up and down walkways and streets. Such is life in a hill town.
The sight of this flag surprised me as it was waving above the main street.
The final stop of our tour in Assisi was the Basilica of St Francis. This church is a pilgrimage destination for many. The basilica is made up of three levels: the upper Basilica, the lower Basilic and the Tomb. We wandered through the upper and lower basilicas and around the piazza outside. The remains of St Francis are above the alter in tomb.
Tomorrow will be a very busy and crowded day here in Assisi.
We were tired, so it was time to drive back to our room. On the way back to the car Brandon spotted a cafe with hot dogs. We all shared it along our long uphill walk back to the car.
Once back at La Volpe, Brandon decided to play at the small playground. Katrina grabbed her camera and a book and went outside as well. I tried to work on my laptop, but didn't accomplish much.
This evening we headed up to the old city of Perugia to look around a bit and have some dinner. We found a great little restaurant just off the main pedestrian drag. We had a great meal, followed by some gelato on our way back to the car.
We also stopped at an outdoor booth to buy some foccacia for breakfast.
What a great first day in Umbria. Tomorrow we visit some hill towns on our way to Orvieto.
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