Assisi, Part One

Today I left Rome for Assisi, the small town in the Appenine Mountains of Umbria, made famous by St. Francis in the thirteenth century. I was sad to leave the sisters at the hotel since they’ve been so kind, but it’s definitely nice to be out of Rome and someplace quieter, at least now, in the evening, with most of the crowds gone. The trip here via public transportation wasn’t too bad, though my morning started out poorly when ticket inspectors got on the bus just before Termini and I couldn’t find my newly purchased ticket. 50 euro fines are not fun, especially when I could be buying shoes or gelato instead. Once I got out of Rome, things went more smoothly, and the scenery on the train ride was beautiful. I got to Assisi in the early afternoon after negotiating the many inclines from the bus stop to the convent where I’m staying - I have to say that guidebooks are great, but they really should include topographical maps to prepare you for towns like Assisi! While the nuns at this convent don’t seem to be as friendly as the Brigittines (they’re Franciscans) the location of this convent is spectacular, literally across from the Basilica, and my room has a large window from which I have a dramatic view of the church and the valley below.

The iconic Basilica

View of St. Clare's church and part of the upper town

It was hot again today, so I spent the afternoon at the Basilica admiring the artwork covering the walls. The found amount of “religious-ness” somewhat overwhelming since I’m so used to Protestant churches with their bare walls (and we would never have relics and popish things like that!). Even the Catholic churches in Northern Europe - Notre Dame in Paris and Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Cathedral in Antwerp included - don’t have such ornate interiors as some of the Italian churches I’ve seen so far. The Roman horror vacui has obviously persisted in Italy and it takes some getting used to. The frescoes are fabulous, though some are in pretty poor condition, both from age and the earthquake about ten years ago. There are three depictions of the Crucifixion between the Lower and Upper Basilicas and two Passion narratives, one in each. I thought the images of the Passion in the Upper Basilica were more interesting and they could have been seen by a wider audience, but I couldn’t find any information about them in the bookstore or tourist information office and photos aren’t allowed inside the building, so I think I’m out of luck. The narrative in the Lower Basilica was done by Pietro Lorenzetti, but is in a chapel which probably would have been inaccessible to most people, so for that reason isn’t particularly useful. The third Crucifixion is also in the Lower Basilica, but it’s on a wall that can only be seen from behind the altar, so again, most people wouldn’t have seen it.

One of the many pretty houses in Assisi

The Pilgrim's Oratory

I spent this evening walking around Assisi appreciating the peacefulness. The sunset was beautiful and I took lots of pictures of the buildings and the scenery. This convent has a 10:00 curfew, but that’s not really a problem since the town quiets down dramatically after around 6:00, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out on much. Plus, the view of the Basilica and sunset from my room is one of the best in Assisi!

The way into town from the Basilica - the convent where I stayed is the multi-story building with brown shutters to the far left.

The Upper and Lower Basilicas

The view as you approach the church

The sunset...

Gelato count: 5

Viterbo

I spent a good part of my last day in Rome not actually in Rome but in Viterbo, a small town about two hours north of Rome. Viterbo has one of best preserved medieval neighborhoods in Italy and during the Middle Ages, actually rivaled Rome in prestige. As a result, there are many more expensive buildings and churches in the town than might otherwise be expected. The train/bus ride from Rome was very picturesque, through rolling hills and farmland, and Viterbo itself, if you could take away the cars, feels like a town that time forgot. Unfortunately, since today was Monday, almost everything was closed, with the lucky exception of the church of Santa Maria Nuova, a Romanesque building from the eleventh century with a predictable dark, yet ethereal, interior. Five small chapels line the walls of the side aisles - three on the left and two on the right if you’re facing the high altar. Two of the chapels hold frescoes depicting the Crucifixion, one from the first half of the fourteenth century, the other from the very end of the thirteenth. A third chapel holds a fresco from the fifteenth century depicting the Virgin and Child enthroned with John the Baptist to the viewer’s left and Christ to the right, holding the cross in his left hand and motioning with his right hand to a Eucharistic chalice and host into which his blood flows from the wound in his side. All three are interesting in their own right, but together beg the question of why such a small church would have three separate images either of or relating to the Crucifixion. The fourteenth century fresco is particularly interesting because blood is shown gushing from Christ’s wounds in a style more typical of Northern Europe (as discussed by Caroline Bynum Walker in her recent book Wonderful Blood).

Santa Maria Nuova

Crucifixion #1

#2

#3

The nave

I spent about three hours walking around Viterbo and was particularly impressed by the medieval part of the town as well as the Palazzo Papale, built in the thirteenth century and the site of five papal conclaves. The town’s cathedral, San Lorenzo, has a Renaissance façade but is a Romanesque building with a bell tower from the fourteenth century built with the same alternating bands of black and white as the cathedral in Siena. This day trip also confirmed for me (as if there had been any doubt) that I must learn Italian - outside Rome, there is no language crutch!

Viterbo's main square, the Piazza Plebescito, with the Palazzo del Podestà on the right and the Palazzo Communale on the left.

View over the rooftops to the other, newer side of the town

The Palazzo Communale

The Chiesa del Gesù, where Simon de Montfort's sons stabbed Henry of Almain, Richard of Cornwall's son, to death during mass. It would be just another case of revenge (in this case for Simon's death at the Battle of Evesham), but Dante mentions the attack in the Inferno, in which he places Guy de Montfort, one of the attackers, in the seventh circle of Hell.

The Cathedral and bell tower of Viterbo

The Palazzo dei Papi, a reminder of Viterbo's former prestige.

Pretty streets in the town

I got back to Rome in the late afternoon and came back to the hotel to see St. Bridget’s rooms here at the convent. The sister who led me through the house was a fountain of information about the saint and explained to me the significance of the distinct habit worn by sisters of the order. The Rule was supposedly revealed to St. Bridget and is found in her Revelations and later combined with that of St. Augustine. The nuns wear a white circlet of cloth with two additional bands from front to back and side to side, forming a cross, over their navy blue veil. At the points where the bands intersect are crimson dots, five total, representing the five sufferings of Christ (circumcision, the agony in the garden, the betrayal, the flagellation, and the crucifixion?). There is a definite connection between the order and Christ’s crucifixion (Bridget’s Revelations detail the ongoing suffering of Christ due to mankind’s sinfulness and she wanted to die like Christ on the cross, which she semi-accomplished by dying on a wooden table), so depending on what I find in Florence and on my other day trips, I think St. Bridget may become a major focus of my thesis. It would be great if I could find a Brigittine church with fourteenth century artwork - maybe once I have internet again!

This evening, I finally had Roman pizza from a pizzeria in Campo di Fiore, less than a minute from the convent. Later, I went on a walk down the Via Giulia, one street over from the Piazza Farnese and along the Tiber, then headed east towards the Pantheon to find a Giolotti, the gelaterie Dorothy recommended.

"My" street

Via Guilia

I wonder if McDonald's intended to be ironic...

McDonald's - surely one of the "ignoble taverns" to which the inscription refers!

It was easy to find (thanks to her directions) and packed, which is always a good sign. The gelato was amazing; definitely the best I’ve had so far, but I have yet to master the Italian skill of eating gelato neatly while walking. As I ate (and dripped) I headed back towards the Pantheon, but, absorbed as I was, made a wrong turn and ended up in front of the Palazzo di Giustizie on the other side of the river. From there, I could see St. Peter’s and the colors were spectacular as the sun began to set. I decided to head along the Tiber towards St. Peter’s as the sunset grew more intense and got a wonderful view and some great pictures.

The Palazzo di Giustizie

View along the Tiber to St. Peter's

Castel Sant'Angelo

Gelato count: 3

Roman Rome and a Church Blitz

I had another thorough day of sightseeing today, spending the morning taking in Roman history, starting off with the ruins of the Trajan Forum, the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill, and finally the Colosseum. Although it’s a well known fact that modern Rome is built upon layers and layers of historical and ancient Rome, that’s very hard to visualize until you’ve actually seen it, and then the reality of just how old this city is and how much history it has starts to sink in.

Trajan's Column

Trajan's Forum

The Capitoline Hill and the Palazzo Senatorio

House of Augustus in the Forum

View of the Forum from above

Arch of Titus

Arch of Septimus Severus

Arch of Constantine

The Colosseum (complete with hordes of tourists)

In the afternoon I visited the Mausoleum of Santa Costanza, outside the eastern walls of the city, which has ornate mosaics covering the arch of the ambulatory as well as two apse mosaics. The feeling of history and significance was stronger there than any of the other places I’ve seen here in Rome. Adjacent is the church of Sant’ Agnese.

Santa Costanza

Interior of S. Agnese

From there, I went to San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains) which holds the relic of the chains used to bind St. Peter at the Mamertime Prison and which supposedly miraculously fused together when he was set free by an angel. The church also holds the tomb of Pope Julius II, much reduced from the original plan.

Tomb of Julius II in San Pietro in Vincoli

Next I saw Santa Prassede, a 9th century church with beautiful Byzantine mosaics in the apse over the altar and in the small chapel of San Zenone, and which supposedly has a piece of the column on which Christ was whipped before the Crucifixion.

Next up was the church of Quattro Coronati, an incredibly peaceful place in the heart of Rome. Frescoes in various states of disrepair decorated the wall to the right of the entrance, and there I found a partial depiction of the Crucifixion with a dead Christ graphically covered in blood, but eyes peacefully closed. There was no information about the images, so I’m going to have to find out more about the church and the frescoes, but this could be something interesting for my thesis.
At San Clemente on the Celian Hill, in the Castiglione chapel I found a fresco depicting the Crucifixion by Masolino from around 1400 which could also be useful for my thesis, though again I don’t know the history of the church, and since the fresco is in a chapel, that limits the audience. I passed by the pyramid built by Gaius Cestius as his tomb in the 12th century B.C., just outside St. Paul’s gate on the south side of the city on my way to St. Paul’s Outside the Walls (San Paulo fuori le Mura), Rome’s fourth great basilica, along with St. Peter’s, S. Maria Maggiore, and the Lateran.

The Basilica is huge, but unfortunately the building which we see now is not the fourth century original nor the 11th century restoration, but a 19th century construction following a catastrophic fire. Nonetheless, the building is impressive and the mosaics inside are beautiful.

St. Paul's Outside the Walls

Finally, to end this very long day, I stopped at the base of the Aventine Hill to see the Temple of Hercules Victor and the so-called Mouth of Truth at Santa Maria in Cosmedin.

The Mouth of Truth at Santa Maria in Cosmedin

Temple of Hercules Victor