OUR TRIP TO ITALY APRIL 2007 - ASSISI

The next day we were again on the move now to the middle part of Italy where we will go to two Medieval cities ASSISI and SIENA both of which are World Heritage Sites under the UNESCO proctection and funding. It was a long journey with breaks along the way. OM the way we saw many olive and grapes farms.
Assisi is a town in Italy in province of Perugia, Italy, in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Mt. Subasio. It is the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Franciscan religious order in the town in 1208, and St. Clare , the founder of the Poor Clares. Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows of the 19th century was also born in Assisi.
Now the site of many a pilgrimage, Assisi is linked in legend with its native son, St. Francis. The gentle saint founded the Franciscan order and shares honors with St. Catherine of Siena as the patron saint of Italy. He was a son of a rich man who disowned him in front of all the town's people for joining the Catholic priesthood. He is remembered by many, even non-Christians, as a lover of nature (his preaching to an audience of birds is one of the legends of his life). He is the patron saint of all Animals.
The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi (St. Francis) is a World Heritage Site. The Franciscan monastery and the lower and upper church of St Francis were begun immediately after his canonization in 1228, and completed 1253. The lower church has frescos by renowned late-medieval artists Cimabue and Giotto; in the Upper church are frescos of scenes in the life of St Francis by Giotto and his circle.
On September 26, 1997 Assisi was struck by an earthquake. The Basilica was badly damaged (part of the vault collapsed, killing four people inside the church and carrying with it a fresco by Cimabue), and was closed for two years for restoration.
Santa Maria Maggiore, (St. Mary the Greater) the was the earliest extant church.
The Cathedral of San Rufino (St. Rufinus), with a Romanesque façade with three rose windows and a 16th-century interior; part of it is built on a Roman cistern.
Basilica of Santa Chiara (St Clare) with its massive lateral buttresses, rose window, and simple Gothic interior, begun in 1257, contains the tomb of the saint and 13th-century frescoes and paintings.

Besides the main Basilica of St Franscis was a small town with many shops selling souveniers to tourists and pilgrims. There was a place for taking taxis and buses. There were many roads and alleys to be explore in the town.