Three hill towns, Umbria, Italy, autumn 2016

Assisi

A friend said he had recently been to Assisi, and he thought it the most beautiful city he ever saw.  I thought I should go there briefly. I departed the noise and chaos of Naples on the Italo. train.  This is a separate company from all other train lines in Italy.  The trains operate at 300 km/h,, 186 MPH on dedicated and elevated tracks. A monitor in the cars shows the speed, otherwise it is difficult to feel as it is a smooth ride.  As there are no stops between Naples and Rome, it was only a one hour ride.  As a senior, I qualified for half price, which made it one of the few bargains in Italy.

From Rome I took a regional train to Assisi in about 2 hours.  I was surprised at the beauty of the countryside. It is referred to as the green belt of Italy, and that is appropriate.  There are low, rolling mountains heavily forested with many fruit trees.  It is remarkably thinly populated.  As the train rolls along, it is charming to watch for the small towns perched directly, and only on the peak of the hill.

Approaching Assisi, the most visible object is the massive Church of San Francesco.

The town strikes me as odd.  It is one of those 99% sand blasted old towns that is now shockingly white - oddly, with the sole exception of two buildings still dark and dirty looking from centuries of coal burning.  It does have nice streets paved in sand coloured stone, and almost no vehicle traffic.  It is a v. quiet and contemplative place, which I suppose it ought to be.  Although the town seemed nearly empty of visitors, one could seem most were in at masses and prayers at various churches.
I went to all of them just to look.

I went to the lower area of the large one shown above to the Tomb of the Saint.  I don't know if you are familiar with the sort of contest in the Church which lasted decades, over whether it ought to predominantly follow the teachings and spirit of St. Francis, or Dominic.  Frank was known for his love of animals and being gentle in all matters.  The Dominicans were known for theological severity and harshness in punishing wayward followers.  Of course, at the top of both saints worry list were heretics, sodomites and Jews.  Let us not apply today's ethics to the distant past.  But in the end, the church went with the Dominican views, although both orders still function today.

I had a truly perfect hotel at Assii with a view over the entire countryside for a modest price.  It was a thoroughly modern styled hotel in every way, and truly hospitable at a modest price.  I wanted an extra night there, but they were fully booked.

Friar Tuck lives:  Above is a humourous photo of an Assisi friar - pretty ample with some sort of soda he is drinking from a straw on a late Assisi afternoon.  He had been doing something with a school class and the teacher wanted him to be photographed with the young people.  This is immediately following the photos when they all relaxed and were being kids again.

Spoleto

If you are  hazy on the  meaning of "hill towns," they are wonderful features of Umbria and Tuscany.  They are medieval and renaissance towns built right on the tip of high hills.  Their steep walls were no longer of wood construction, but instead stone or masonry - all for the defense of the city against hostile armies.  Most had some form of watchtowers.

 Spoleto is the most beautiful town I have ever seen.  It is parked high up on a hill top that is reached from the train station by a bus that travels in a constant spiral.  But along the way, is the long distance bus station and from there you enter the town by a series of lengthy escalators which are all in doors.

They were constructed in an effort to reduce car traffic and it has worked.  My hotel was two escalators down from the top and it was a great way to travel.

It is a town with a casual feeling, but the fine buildings around the massive plaza are quite formal.
There is an art museum named "The national gallery of Umbria."  Figure that out.  It has a lot of beautiful paintings which all happen to be religious.  There is a special reason for this I must mention .

The Spoleto festival of the two worlds  

In 1958 Gian Carlo Menotti, the famous composer and conductor instituted a festival lasting 17 days mainly in July each year, of music, dance, theatre and art.  Spoleto had been just another sleepy hill town until then.  Now it is one of the most famous of more than 50 hill towns of Umbria.

The town is also famous for the only Alexander Calder sculpture in Italy.  The title of it is Teodelapio (name of a Lombard king).  It is BIG and BLACK and dwarfs and nearly hides the train station.  It was donated to the city in 1962. The pointy arrowhead shape refers to the king's crown.