Assisi

Since I was requested to describe Assisi, I'm going to delve back into that fathomless abyss also known as my mind and attempt to retrieve the memories of roughly three weeks ago. Saturday trips have become the highlight of my week. While it can sometimes be a nuisance to have your entire Saturday swallowed up by a required field trip, at the same time it's incredibly relaxing. You're handed a schedule, driven around in private buses, and dropped off in an Italian town. There you are mostly free to wander as you like.

The drive to Assisi took about two and a half hours, landing us in Assisi at about 10:30. Two hours is the perfect driving time, we students have agreed, because it gives us the ideal early morning nap. The drive was, as usual, beautiful. Everything had just started turning green and had the expectant air of Easter. I'm not sure if Assisi is actually the most medieval town we've been in, or if I was influenced by thoughts of St. Francis returning from the Crusades. Regardless, the town is located on top of a mountain and gives the impression of being able to hold up against a siege. The streets of Assisi are tinier than ever and crammed with touristy shops and homes built one on top of the other. I kept remembering that Drew said that Assisi was his favorite town, which struck me as odd because it was nothing like what I expected. I guess I was thinking that it would be very plain and austere…more of a Franciscan poverty sort of place? But ha, no...not at all. It definitely reminded me of a bustling little medieval metropolis.

All streets in Assisi seem to lead to the Basilica. It's giant. How big? Big enough for the building to house not one church but two. The entrance to the lower church is at the end of a brilliantly white courtyard flanked by continuous colonnades on three sides. Here we paused while Sarah gave us a brief recap on what to look for inside. It's hard to pay attention to mundane things such as identifications of frescos and the gradual discoloration of certain paint pigments when you’re standing in front of this giant white beast, practically oozing history out of its many doors, windows, and towers. Note of interest: this church is the third most visited Christian pilgrimage site. The second is a church in Spain, but I can't remember the first. Rome?

Inside the lower church, you're immediately bombarded with details...frescos everywhere! Chapels pressing in on you from every side! Crosses! Altarpieces! Stairs! Stained glass! Where to look?!? If I used one word to describe this lower church it would be frescos. I don't think you understand what I mean...like, they're EVERYWHERE. There is not one square inch of walls or ceilings that aren't covered in decoration. And every other one is so famous that I've stared at it for hours in art history or written about it. I made myself take the church on in a very logical and precise way, starting at one end and systematically walking through chapels until I made a full circle. Then I let myself go down into the crypt, which was drawing me with the utter simplicity of its sunken staircase.

The first turn I took led me to a museum of sorts. In it was every kind of St. Francis paraphernalia. His clothes, his sandals, letters with his signature...everything you could think of. It gives one a really weird feeling, bringing home the fact that Francis was actually a real person. Then, wandering farther, I found the chapel with his remains. The coffin was sealed and placed high into a glass covered vault, but countless pilgrims had stuck photos of loved ones into the back. To get from the bottom church to the upper church you have to climb some stairs behind the main altar (which is a very open altar surrounded by free space, so not quite as mysterious as it sounds). This spits you out into a small courtyard where you have the option of spending way too much money on rosaries in the gift shop (a 1000 euro rosary...whaaaat?) or continuing to climb another set of stairs into the upper church.

The upper church was far less interesting. Basically just a lot of frescos narrating St. Francis’ life and a blue ceiling (turning green, hehe!) with the traditional gold star motif (aka: what you did if you couldn't afford Michelangelo!). After I wandered away from the church, I really only had one hour to explore a bit of the town, which was sad because its supposed to have a lot of neat stuff in it. Meandering the streets leading back to the bus with friends and ducking into small shops was about all I had time for, however. Definitely a disappointment.

Overall impression? Cute, but touristy.