A few minutes walk from the bus stop, and I entered a large square. This is the Basilica of Francesco.
A few minutes walk from the bus stop, and I entered a large square. This is the
Basilica of Francesco.
I continued walking through many steep streets that wound upwards. The streets are
lined with artisan shops of all kinds. Probably a good place to buy some art if you wanted
to. There is everything from ceramics to paintings. I stopped at a juncture in
the streets for a moment to help hold up a wall.
On of the many passageways throughout the city.
As I started to approach the limits of the upper end of the hill town, I entered
a staircase street called San Lorenzo. Notice all the plants in pots. This was
common throughout the whole town and really added a beautiful touch.
I climbed the staircase for about 100 meters ...
When I reached the top of the staircase, I continued for another 200 meters along
the bottom of the edge of the castle. The trail opened up into an open area about
the size of an american football field. I looked back and studied trhe remains
of the castle called Rocca Maggiore.
I entered the castle and climbed up narrow staircases peered out along the top
of one of the walls. The tower is known as the hexagonal tower, obviously because
the perimeter of it's walls are hexagonal. If you look at the very first photo at
the top of this page, you can see the castle ... now, look all the way to the left of
the castle at that little tower. That is what I am looking at in this photo.
So now I climb back down a small shaft and through a long dark corridor embedded in
the long narrow wall ... towards the hexagon tower (it's a little eerie, by the way).
Finally, I have reached and climbed the hexagon tower. I look back at all the places
I had been during the last 2 hours of walking around (castle and the town).
It's very window, so I stay only 10 minutes. But, before making my way back down through all the narrow
staircases, I can clearly see the Basilica of Francesco jutting out on the spur.
After exiting the castle, I retrace my steps and continue towards the San Lorenzo steps. About a 100
meters before the steps, I can look downwards and see most of the town. I reach in my backpack and
eat the last of the tachinno (turkey) sandwiches I made when I left Florence in the morning.
So, all out of food and nothing to drink, I head back down into the town in search of anyhthing else
interesting.
On the way back to the bus stop, I pass by a few large cathedrals. One could spend a lot of time in this
town studying the cathedrals. There a lots of things to see and many places to eat. The residents
are acutely aware of the uniqueness of their town and tourists are catered to heavily. I leave you with
one last photo of the castle.
There is no need for me to pay for a hotel when my Florentine appartment is only an inexpensive 2 and a half train ride away. So, I bus back down the hill, catch a regional train and I'm back in Florence by 9:30PM that night.
If you visit Italy and have time for some of the smaller towns, I definitely recommend Assis. By the way, it is only about 20 Kilometers away from Perugia. Both towns are in the region known as Umbria.