Hill Town of Assisi

Assisi is located on the flank of Mount Subasio in the Province of Perugia, Umbria. It is approximately 90 miles north of Rome along the Apennine spine and considered, along with Siena, to be one of the two most notable hill towns in Italy. Its most famous citizen (and one of Italy's two patron saints) was St. Francis, although St. Clare, founder of the Poor Sisters, and St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows also lived there. Assisi embroidery is likewise well-known. Several Italian cultures settled on the site in early centuries, but it was the Romans who organized it into Municipium Asisium. The decline of the Roman Empire brought Christianity to the area. By the 11th century it was fully under Papal jurisdiction.

Assisi, of course, is most deeply associated with St. Francis, who founded the Franciscan Order in 1108. It was St. Francis who forsook his wealthy background for a life of povertty and strived to become a "mirror" of Jesus. He is buried on the lower level of the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi. Yet the Basilica is only one of many famous churches in Assisi, including Santa Maria Maggiore, the Cathedral of San Rufino, the Basilica of Santa Chiara and Santo Stephano, among others. Higher up on the mountain can be found the Rocca Maggiore, an imperial fortress dating back to the Roman era.

If one travels to Assisi, it is more than a sight-seeing trip. The town's deeply religious aura casts a spell on most visitors and the journey quickly becomes a pilgrimage of sorts.

Regretfully, our group had precious little time to spend in Assisi, and beyond a visit to the Basilica of San Francesco and a walk up the narrow streets above, we were soon headed to Rome. Like most of the Italian trip, one yearns to return here.