This morning I heard an alarm sound but I was so tired I ignored it and hoped it wasn't the fire alarm or an invasion!!! Turns out it was an alarm to warn the people of Venice that the water was rising and to expect flooding! Gian Carlos left with the bus and our luggage about 6am and we left about 7:45am by boat. When we boarded the boat, the captain was not sure we were actually going to make it under the bridge and make our way out to the open water. Luckily we did make it...turns out the fact that we have all been eating too much was an advantage today! As we made our way closer to Venice we could see the water was already level with the walkways and high tide was not due to peak until 10am. The water was expected to be so high today that no-one would have been able to visit St Mark's square. Once again, the bad weather seems to arrive AFTER we have, we really have been so lucky!!!
When we finally got to the Trafalgar bus we travelled south to the beautiful town of Assisi located on the slopes of Mount Subasio. We drove past the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels which is much venerated as the place of St Francis' death on the 3rd October,1226. We then drove up to Assisi and did a walking tour of the town. We had a little free time (not enough) to have a quick look at the shops and buy a gelato, then we headed towards St Francis' Basilica. The bi-level basilica is quite grandiose considering it was built to honour a man who preached and lived a simple life of poverty and abstinence. It is a major place of pilgrimage and a place that both believers and art lovers enjoy. I found it to be an incredibly peaceful place and apparently there is very little crime. Patrick said that on a previous tour one of their group had accidently left their hand luggage by the side of the road and when he went back to get it a couple of hours later it was still there.
We first took some photos outside the bascilica which has a plain facade and is Romanesque in style. It was incredibly beautiful looking out to the lower areas around Assisi from in front of the Basilica. Inside the upper level church, which is an example of Italian Gothic style, it was light, airy and filled with colour. Giotto painted frescoes of the 'Legend of St Francis', which are based on stories recorded by St Bonaventure. They were beautiful. Next we went down to the lower church which was actually built first. It is dimly lit and also contains frescoes by artists of the early Sienise school and depict St Francis' life in parrallel with the life of Christ. In 1818 the tomb of St Francis was rediscovered beneath the high altar. It had remained hidden for almst 600 years and the amazing thing was that the skeleton of St Francis was completely intact, a rare thing for such a popular saint. A crypt was then built around the burial place which we were able to see. The region of Umbria was hit by a strong earthquake in September 1997 which damaged several churches in Assisi, the most damaged was actually the basilica and four people were killed. Frescoes by Cimabue were destroyed and Giotti's 'Life of St Francis' frescoes were damaged. The basilica was the first building in Assisi restored after the earthquake, demonstrating the importance of this building to the people of Assisi. We were given the option to stay in Assisi or make our own way back to the hotel...I decided to go back to the hotel because if I had stayed I was worried I'd never leave Assisi!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment