Assisi and Siena

It stuck me about halfway through the trip that, being on pilgrimage, I should try to get to a few places in Italy besides Rome. To be honest, the whole Italy portion was scheduled a bit poorly: I'm going to neither Florence, nor Venice, nor Naples. But having gotten to Cassino, the center of Benedictine monasticism, I thought I should try for Assisi.

St. Francis of Assisi is a saint much beloved by Catholics, but also by Protestants of every stripe. His was a message of poverty, chastity, and obedience; his was, indeed, a message of simple but fervent love for God, neighbor, and all creation. His commitment to nature and the animals strikes a particular chord with our generation, I think.

Unfortunately it's a three hour train ride from Rome to Assisi, so I had to pull myself out of bed nice and early at 5am to catch the train forty-five minutes later. Somehow I managed to do it after only three good hours of sleep, and I was off to one of the central pilgrimage sites of Europe.

Arriving three hours later, with my Rick Steves guide to central Italian hill towns in hand, I began following his walking path leading from the top of the fortified town down the hill to the Basilica of St. Francis. I wound through the brick-clad back streets (well, they're all back streets) from one church to the next, including the Basilica of St. Clare. When St. Francis' fame grew as a great preacher- early eleventh century- he attracted the interest of a nobleman's young daughter, Clare(Chiara). Against her father's wishes devoted herself to following Francis and founded the Order of the Poor Clares. This order exists alongside the Franciscans today, and the basilica in Assisi is the order's headquarters. Naturally, it contained her relics (corpse).

From there I walked downhill to the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (yes, the same name as the one in Rome; they really liked to show that the Blessed Virgin is better than the Mother Goddess, didn't they?). Unlike the one in Rome, however, the church is still obviously a pagan temple; it has the typically pagan columns with a triangular pediment, but with the steeple stuck on the side.

Then came the climax of the walk: the Basilica of St. Francis (alas, no pictures inside). It was far larger than I was expecting, for though it was a basilica, Assisi just isn't that big. Naturally it contained the relics (body) of St. Francis, watched over by gently Stoic monks in those robes that became so familiar to me in the Holy Land. Going to the heart of the Franciscan order was, in a way, like going home to Jerusalem for me.

The basilica contains numerous fine examples of art by Giotto, a major figure who first left the standards of medieval Christian art- two dimensional and emotionless- and added both dimension and character to his art. His work is beautiful, although commentaries on it often come with an unfortunate negative portrait of medieval and Byzantine art. Earlier iconography is portrayed as primitive or unconcerned with art. I disagree; they were concerned with using images that did not represent reality strictly in order to discover a deeper reality. And, of course, there were theological reasons (at least in the East) to stray away from three dimensional portrayals that smelt of idolatry. That said, I love Giotto, and I can't help but agree on at least the point that the emotion of his figures is a true step forward toward the Renaissance.

My original plan had been to spent the entire day in Assisi, to go back up the hill and visit other sites. However, I'd been disappointed in Rome-centric (almost Rome-only) approach to Italy, and had become increasingly disappointed in not getting to Siena. Naturally, Florence and Venice and Naples would have been nice, but I'll save those for a honeymoon or some such trip. However, Siena turned out to be doable, especially since I had a rail pass that got me free transit throughout the day. So hours and hours on the train notwithstanding, I was determined to get to Siena.

Three and a half hours after leaving the basilica, I finally arrived- via multiple connections and a bit of backtracking by bus- in beautiful Siena. I wasn't quite taken with it the way I was taken with Assisi. Assisi is entirely the old town, with no new town to speak of'; Siena has a historic core, but at the edges turns quite modern. However, the historic core is something people see once and fall in love with, and I did.

The main reason to go to Siena is to see the hometown of St. Catherine of Siena, the medieval mystic and theologian. She is known especially for a vision in which she was married to Christ, a symbol of the relationship of all believers in the church with our Lord. After winding my way around town I got to the Church of San Domenica which contains her head. As I mentioned, her body is in Santa Marria sopra Minerva in Rome, covered by a casing. Here, however, her head was on full display. There weren't any pictures allowed, but allow me to assure you: the face is rotting around the mouth, but the rest of her is in a surprising state of preservation. Her thumb was also in a jar.

Her home has also been preserved as a chapel with windows looking in to sections that remain as they were in her day. It was interesting, to me, to walk through the home of a saint, something I don't believe I've ever done. How, after all, did these examples of life in Christ live day to day?

Then to the Duomo. Duomo is the Italian term for cathedral, and the Duomo of Siena is world famous for its curious design. It is a Gothic church with a vaulted ceiling, but the exterior and the interior pillars are off-white with horizontal black stripes. It is one of the oddest things I have ever seen, but it was fascinating. Many churches are beautiful, but they start to run together; the Duomo of Siena stuck out.

Unfortunately, its chapel designed by and adorned with sculptures by Bernini was closed for renovation. A Michelangelo sculpture of St. Paul was visible, though, as well as some beautiful frescoes in the library.

I can't emphasize enough, though, that it was less the sites at either place that impressed me than the feel of the towns themselves. Assisi was getting ready to have a medieval and renaissance fair that would last through the weekend; Siena is characterized by a friendly (sometimes unfriendly) rivalry between its fourteen [double check] neighborhoods, all of which have their own flag. The brick architecture and winding lanes of these hilltop Umbrian and Tuscan towns is something to just fall in love with, and I look forward to spending a more leisurely day and night in each some time in the future.

Well, I had to take a bus back to Rome, and that was an uncomfortable three hours, especially after waking at 5am. It didn't arrive until ten at night, which is why I uploaded the pictures of this day without labeling them at first. They're all properly tagged, now, by the way.

It was certainly nice to get away from Rome for a day and see a bit more of small town Italy. But the following two days it was back to the tourist grind: the great Christian centers of Pilgrim's Rome and the Appian Way on Saturday, and as a grand finale, the sites of Ancient Rome on Sunday.