To See Assisi

When we got home after this trip my host brother asked me a very simple question: did I like Assisi more than Rome?

I honestly couldn’t give an answer. It’s not that I don’t have opinions on one over the other, it’s more that each is so different I can’t judge them in the same category. It sheds some light on what Marco told us about Italy when we first got here: Italy, as a peninsula divided by mountains and valleys, has always been regionally based. We connect the ancient Romans to it, but Italy as a unified state, has only existed for the last two hundred years. Therefore, people here are still loyal to their region, not the country, as every city is radically different from the next.

Milan is essentially Austrian, Venice a booming port town, Florence centered in its Renaissance roots, Assisi and Orvieto archetypal medieval towns, Rome the epicenter of the Ancient Romans, and Naples is practically North African. So to ask if I like one better than the other is to ask if I like crème brulee more than enchiladas. Their similar but in two completely separate categories for judgement. I like them both equally in their own way.

So what makes Assisi unique? Well, it’s a tried and true pilgrimage town. Sure some people go to Rome to see the Pope, but most go to see the sights. Here, an overwhelming majority of people are Catholics coming to see the Basilica of St. Francis and the Basilica of St. Claire.

So that monster of a complex is what makes Assisi special. Apparently, St. Francis was so special he got two naves in his church, a lower and an upper. This made a path for pilgrims: descending first to his tomb, second to the lower nave, and finally to the upper nave, getting closer to heaven as they went.

That fact is really important. Symbolism like this may be just a side thought for us, but for people back in the Middle Ages it meant everything. It is very important to realize that back then, everything was judged by its symbolism, not its looks and characteristics. So a church meant a lot more than a place to listen to a sermon; it was literal access to God. A church was more than a place to fellowship; it was the social, political, economic center of the entire town. Something we had to think about as we explored the building.

Inside to out, the church is completely wrought with symbolism. For one, this particular church was built on a hill that used to be the execution grounds for all of Assisi. It completely remade a place associated with sinners and hell, into a hill of “paradise.” Already an important message to Christians.

Here’s the catch though, the Basilica of St. Francis is, itself, a direct contradiction to the teachings of the man to which it is dedicated.

St. Francis rejected the corrupt ways of the medieval Catholic Church and advocated for a life of poverty and simplicity to better serve the lord. Gathering scores of followers, he completely redefined what it meant to be a Christian at the time, speaking against a life of wealth and opulence. So what did the church do when he died?

Logically, they built one of the single most expensive and extravagant churches to have ever existed.

Yes, this included the vast size and collection of frescos by Florentine painters. But what shocked pilgrims the most was the massive amount of one of the most expensive materials in the world at that time: stained glass.

Think about the middle ages, and consider the cost it took to hand blow and ship massive plates of stained glass out to the Italian countryside. Then factor in the labor it took to create pieces art out of an extremely hard material. A material that had to be precisely cut with diamond tipped tools and then bonded together with expensive metal.

On paper, it sounds absolutely ludicrous, but maybe it wasn’t as crazy as you think? Consider if you were a pilgrim at the time. If you went into a church that was bare, would you be inspired to live simply? Probably not. If you live in poverty at home already, why would you follow a religion that tells you to give up even more?

But what if you walk into a magnificent, sprawling paradise on earth? What if the domed ceilings were frescoed with stars and light breaks through man-made rainbows? Who knows? If you were enticed with a glimpse of heaven, maybe living poorly on earth would be worth it in the end. Just something to think about.

Moving on from the Basilica, Assisi also houses one of the best preserved Roman temples on earth. Thus, Assisi has a certain duality to it. During the middle ages you were either highly religious or highly anti-religious. The poor found hope in Christianity, but the rich and educated often reviled the church because of its corruption and ego, at the time. How do you think all the churches of medieval times were made? With freshly quarried stone? Heck no.

Why on earth would the church put in the work to cut new stone when they could just use the perfectly good stone from unwanted pagan structures? Easy supply of materials. Good riddance of barbaric landmarks. Two birds with one stones.

Learned scholars of the age couldn’t forgive this destruction of historical artifacts and thus shunned the church and religion as a whole. Therefore, these men would normally avoid the town for its Christian importance. Yet, many ended up still coming to see the splendor of the temple of Minerva. Thus, Assisi managed to drawn everyone in, no matter their beliefs.

No surprise, the wealth added up and the result became a clean and beautiful city. Even though it’s much like Orvieto, the streets are slightly wider, the houses slightly better. All in all, it creates a city that accommodates the cars and tourists of the modern age much better than Orvieto. The white stone of the area bounces light down into even the smallest alleys and makes the entire place feel brighter and cleaner.

It just goes to show that even small changes have big impacts. That’s what architecture is all about, after all.

Another thing that makes Assisi stand out is its location. Orvieto is on a lone volcanic plug surrounded by flatlands and low hills. Assisi is right at the edge of large foothills.

This lends it a greater mystery and ambiance. Or maybe I’m just and Denverite through and through, and I simply like hills and mountains more. Who knows?

When you get views like this from the old castle however, it’s hard to complain. The castle itself was quite exciting to see, on top of everything else (it’s at the top of the hill so it literally is on top of everything else. I really love bad puns). Obviously, it is just a bunch of ruins at this point (people only restore churches here, they don’t care about castles), but it had the best views in the city and plenty of areas to wander. Sure it rained on us, but at least we were so worried about keeping our cameras dry, that we kind of forgot about the part where we got soaked instead.

Also, as a nerdy side note, they had displays of medieval armor inside with screenshots from BBCs Merlin. Did this combine into a really cheesy, underrated exhibit? Yes. Yes it did. Did I love it? Most certainly.

BBC’s Merlin remains one of the single best TV shows ever created and nothing you can say will convince me otherwise. So yes, one of the most exciting moments for me in Italy so far has been seeing a blurry poster of a lesser known, British TV show. I regret nothing.

In the end though, my two companions and I got to see these beautiful views of the city when it was semi-cool and the clouds were epic. Our classmates on the other hand, climbed up after lunch and were instead exposed to bright, hot sun the entire time. Poor souls.

Looking at this picture as I write this, however, I’ve had a rather amusing thought. The churches dot the hill here like Mormon wards dot Salt Lake City. That fact alone should inform you that this is definitely not America.

So did I like Assisi better than Rome? No. But I certainly didn’t like it any less. If you ever come to Italy and have the time to stop, I highly recommend. (Especially if you are a Merlin nerd, muahahaha)

P.s. Almost forgot to mention, the group had breakfast at a café before we left to walk around and I ate what may just be the best pastry I’ve ever had in my life. They took this magically soft baguette and lined it with Nutella then filled it with crème. Sugar. Heaven. Thank God for Italians and their love of carbs and hazelnuts.