Travel

Assisi, Hill Town in Umbria, Italy

The hill town of Assisi in Umbria is one of Italy's best preserved medieval villages. The ancient buildings are constructed from a local stone that has slightly pink color enhancing the visual beauty of this special place with a lovely network of pedestrian lanes to explore, some of them so steep they are staircases rather than streets. The main reason that most people visit the town is because it was the home of St. Francis, one of the Catholic Church's most important saints, who is buried here under the great basilica that was constructed two years after his death in the early 13th century. Later in the program will visit inside the Basilica of St. Francis to enjoy its Gothic magnificence and the beauty of these early Renaissance frescoes all around us. But will show you that is Assisi has much more to offer the traveler because it is one of the most beautiful and best preserved of all of the Italian hill towns. The Basilica on the west end of town is located about 400 meters from the nearest parking lot, so it's an easy walk straight over there. However, there are many other sites to see in town, as we will show you on this suggested route that takes in all those major sites, walking along those pedestrian lanes to the main piazza, as your first major destination, exploring some of the nearby lanes, then continuing to the Cathedral, called the Duomo, then up the hill to the fortress. And then back down and around through more of those narrow lanes heading over towards the Basilica to complete your visit. Assisi is in central Italy, a 30 minute drive from Perugia and two hours from Rome or Florence. You can also get there by train or bus. And now we get started at the port does some petro which is just next to the car parking lot, and notice there's taxis out front. You could take a taxi up to the top of the hill to that fortress right here, and then you could walk down following our route somewhat in reverse. But walking up is also most enjoyable as you're about to find out. Which brings us to the main piazza of Assisi – it's at the crossroads of town, you'll probably come back here several times in your visit. There is a multilevel fountain with three lions in the southern side that dates from the 16th century. It's called the Lions Fountain, but perhaps a better name for it might be the Pigeons Fountain. At least they're trying to keep clean. You'll get a fine seat for watching all the action from bar trouble SE, either at their street level portico or upstairs on the terrace – open all day for a good food, or perhaps late afternoon spritz. Café Central is another convenient spot if you just want a coffee or a light snack. There are shops and a few hotels nearby and also some major historic attractions on the piazza. Via San Ruffino is one of the most delightful streets in town, perhaps because it connects the main piazza with the Cathedral, and all along the way, it's got shops and restaurants, and beautiful old buildings. Notice the paving of the street. This has been fairly consistent throughout the town. The paving is perfect. It was laid down with brick and stone in the most pleasant way, and it's so smooth and efficiently built that you will never trip or slip while walking on these beautiful lanes. It's only 200 meters from the piazza to the top of via San Ruffino where you come upon the Cathedral of San Ruffino, called the Duomo. St. Francis was baptized here and later preached in the church. From the piazza in front of the church, we get the best view of the fortress up on the hill, which is our next destination, the Roca Maggiore. You'll notice there is a slight difference in altitude from the piazza up to the fortress, and there's no elevator, no escalator. We'll need a little muscle power. Looking back down at the Duomo from the RoAssisia gives you a little preview of the great vistas that you're going to find up there. One of the things you want to do in Assisi is climb up to the top of the hill and get a view from the fortress, called La RoAssisia. It's a bit of a steep climb. It might take you 10 to 20 minutes to get up there, but they say the view is worthwhile. So let's go find out. Walking around inside and exploring this RoAssisia Maggiore is just as fascinating as the views that you get looking out from it. And now we're heading up the MaAssisihiato Tower, which leads to the highest point in the fortress, providing the most spectacular view all around, 360 degrees. When you finally climb to the top of the castle you get a stupendous view looking down on the Basilica of San Francesco. We'll be taking you on a grand tour inside the famous Basilica later on in the program. The fortress was destroyed and rebuilt several times in its histor, and then by the year 1600, it was completely abandone, to remain almost intact as one of Italy's best preserved medieval fortresses. http://tourvideos.com/