St. Francis Way - Spoleto

With Mount Subasio everpresent to my left, I arrived at the medieval town of Spello. Beautifully located on a ridge at the southern end of Subasio, the ancient section, wrapped in a fortifying wall, overlooks the valley below and the expanded residential and commercial area of Spello. Each year the festival Infiorate includes the creation of sixty flower carpets for the Corpus Domini feast. These elaborate works of floral art serve as a pathway for the Corpus Domini procession.

Descending into a flat bottom valley, I hiked along country roads to Foligno. The town is an important railway junction in Umbria. The train station, opened in 1866, has been expanded and rebuilt many times either due to earthquakes or bombing raids. During WWII, the town was heavily bombed and destroyed including the railway station. Rebuilding the town is what gives it its current modern feel. There are very little medieval monuments left and no Ancient Roman footprints are left bar the street plan of the centre.

My next stop was the ancient town of Trevi. Located on the lower flank of Mount Serano, the town center sits atop a flat section of a hill whilst the residential area, densely packed, is built on the slope to the west giving uninterrupted views of Umbria as far as 30mi (50km) away. The Museo della Civiltà dell'Ulivo (Olive Museum) tells the history of olive oil making through illustrations showing the process of extracting olive oil, explaining different olive varieties cultivated in Umbria and displays of old equipment used in producing the olive oil. Trevi is well known for the production of extra virgin olive oil and its techniques are not much different than those used by the Etruscan people 2,500 years ago. The cooler hills of Trevi produce smaller olives providing a more concentrated flavour than those from warmer climates.

At the foothills of the Appenine Mountain range, is the ancient city of Spoleto. It has a long history of civil wars and foreign conquests with the likes of Hannibal, Frederick Barbarossa and Napoleon Bonaparte each wanting a piece of it. Razed to the ground by Barbarossa in 1125, then rebuilt, its borders were continuously shifting ownership until 1860 when troops fighting for the unification of Italy reclaimed the city from Bonaparte and enveloped it into the Kingdom of Italy.

Spoleto is rich with ancient and medieval landmarks such as the 13thC aqueduct Ponte delle Torri, a 774ft (236m) long and 262ft (80m) high bridge across a steep ravine connecting Spoleto to the little borough of Monteluco. Made of local limestone the bridge is supported by ten arches and nine piers.

On the north-west end of the bridge up on a hill is the fortified castle, Rocca Albornoziana. It was built in the 14thC by Spanish Cardinal Albornoz - also responsible for rebuilding Rocca Maggiore in Assisi - at the request of the Pope who wanted to re-affirm his authority in the area. The rectangular castle with six towers features two courtyards which were used by the troops in one and administrators and governors in the other. In 1816 the castle was turned into a jailhouse and the many frescoes that adorned the walls were lost. The jail ceased operation in 1982 and a grand renovation project was underway to restore the castle to its original layout and as much of the frescoes as possible. In 2007 it was reopened as a museum.

The Roman amphitheatre built around the middle of the 1stC BC on a large artificial terrace continues to be used today much the same as it was 2,000 years ago. It has the typical semi-circular plan with a diameter of about 230ft (70cm) and features an orchestra pit with seats arranged around it in tiers. Divided into three horizontal sections dictated the seating arrangements. Closest to the pit was for the community's elite, the middle section for the general public and the furthest section for women and children. Once decorated with marble sculptures and reliefs, most of it was destroyed to make way for the Sant'Agata monastery and church in the Middle Ages. Recent findings of two busts are believed to represent Augustus, the first emperor of Rome and Julius Caesar, his adoptive father.

Basilica of San Salvatore, is a church built between 4th-5thC and it is an example of early Christian architecture. It is part of a UNESCO listed group of seven historic buildings constructed by the Germanic tribe of the Lombards referred to as 'Longobards, Places of Power (568-774AD)".

Cathedral of S. Maria Assunta is a Romanesque cathedral built late 12thC on the site of a previous church, after Barbarossa's troops destroyed the town. A manuscript letter by St Francis of Assisi is within its possessions.



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St. Francis Way - Assisi

Travelling across more mountainous terrain, I passed through the small villages of Mengara and Bellugello then had a quick stop in Barcaccia to see the ancient farmhouse St Francis used to rest in. Gently descending amid olive trees and vineyards, I crossed the stone bridge of Tescio River at the foot of Mount Subasio. A steep narrow road brought me to the entrance of Assisi via the San Giacomo Gate and to the St Francis Basilica.

Assisi is a town in Umbria, flanked by Mount Subasio to its west. It is the birthplace of St Francis and Latin poet Propertius (c.50BC). There are two castles and a number of churches that together were designated UNESCO sites in 2000 under the title of "Franciscan Structures of Assisi".

The main church is the Basilica of Saint Francis. A Roman Catholic church it is an important place for Christian pilgrims. Built into the side of a hill, construction began in 1228 and consists of a crypt where the saint was interred and two churches: the Upper Church and the Lower Church. Designed in a combined Romanesque and Gothic style, both churches are decorated with frescoes by painters of the late medieval period. A free-standing bell tower stands to the left of the church.

Besides the basilica is the Friary of St Francis. It was built with pink and white stone from Mount Subasio and has 53 Romanesque arches. Overlooking the valley below, the friary looks like a formidable fortress. Although it was occupied since 1220, the construction took a couple of centuries to complete and you can see the mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles within its walls. Today the friary is a library and art museum.

St Francis is the patron saint of Italy and the founder of the Franciscan order. He is one of the most popular Catholic saints in history. Born in 1181 to a wealthy family, he was initially named Giovanni. This changed when his father, who on business in France, at the time of his birth started calling him Francesco. It stuck and he was renamed. Coincidentally he also had great aptitude for learning French. Francis lived an indulgent life enjoying fine clothes and spending lavishly.

Sometime in 1202 he joined a military expedition and was captured, spending a year as a prisoner and falling ill. This experience forced him to re-evaluate his life and began his spiritual journey. Over the coming years he nursed lepers, begged for stones to repair churches, began preaching repentance and peace, established a set of rules to live by and requested papal approval for his order.

In 1219 as part of the Fifth Crusade, Francis set out for the Holy Land and Egypt to try and convert the Muslim sultan. According to Father Cusato, a specialist in the medieval Franciscan order, the two met "under the sultan's tent and discussed interfaith conflict, war and the search for peace" and seems to have been a transformative experience. Because of this encounter the Franciscan order has had an ongoing presence in the Holy Land to this day.

Upon his return from the Holy Land he continued to refine the rules of his order and established more discipline as requested by the Pope. In 1224 he received the stigmata, marks of Christ's wounds and two years later due to ill health he passed away. Francis was canonised in 1228 and his remains are interred in the Basilica of Saint Francis.

Looming over the town from the hill is Rocca Maggiore, an 800 years old fortress with imposing bastions and battlements. In front of the castle is a piazza with spectacular views of the Spoleto Valley and the town of Assisi. With a natural defensive position above the town, records indicated that fortifications have existed on this site well before the Romans. The earliest structure on this site was a German feudal castle erected in late 12thC, however, following an uprising by the people of Assisi the castle was destroyed. Two centuries later, Cardinal Albornoz rebuilt the castle using the outer walls and some of the fortifications of the ruined castle. Another century later, a twelve sided tower and the curtain wall was added connecting the castle to the town. The castle has been recently renovated functioning as an art and exhibition centre and is open to visitors.

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