Assisi [antikvár]

PREFACE Assisi lies in a privileged position, right in the heart of green Umbria, in a region full of many villages and small towns, in which the Middle Ages have bestowed the best of their art, culture, history and human warmth. It is a wonderful town looking on to the plain lying between Perugia and Foligno, where the course of the river Tiber becomes rectilinear. It is situated half way up the slopes of Mt. Subasio rising behind it. Its built-up area lies on a series of short terraces outlined by the houses and the powerful butresses on which the Convent and the Basilica of St. Francis rest. The giant complex of the huge walls, with magnificent blind arcades, is the first characteristic of Assisi. This first general view of the town that looks quite imposing from far, should not deceive us as to its real nature. Undoubtedly we realize that many difficulties had to be faced when building Assisi, considering that it lies on a narrow rocky spur of Mt. Subasio. The town itself, however, looks quiet different. Those who enter Assisi, find themselves before a quiet, simple, suggestive and human town. Those neat houses made of white and pink stones coming from Mt. Subasio, all adorned with vases of flowers placed on their window-sills and terraces; those slightly bent streets that all seem to lead to the Basilica of St. Francis, the heart itself of Assisi; the numerous squares lying beyond arches and alleys; the descreet voices of the people and tourists who realize they are in the Saint's town — all mingle in the same quiet and melodious atmosphere. It seems that all is permeated by peace and serenity, and mainly by a deep religiousness. If it is true that Umbria consists of a continuous series of pleasant and quiet landscapes and villages clinging to its hills and still keeping the charm of the ancient medieval villages and wonderful testimonies of their past (Perugia, Gubbio, Todi, Orvieto, Spoleto, just to mention the main ones), it is also true that Assisi, a precious pearl among many others, has become famous specially because St. Francis and the Order he founded were born and worked here. We can even say that the history of the town and mainly its art and culture drew new life from them. Even now Assisi reflects the light of its great son. In his Divine Comedy, Dante calls it "Orient" playing on words, since the old name of Assisi is "Ascesi" that in Italian means "rising", hence "Orient". Assisi is