CMYK

Our time together was quickly drawing to a close. Finals week was creeping up slowly and the final Arcadia-planned trip was that weekend, the 21st of November. Joey, Hunter and I had been tossing around the idea of making a day trip to Assisi. We had all heard great things about the city from various people. We made a last-minute decision to go that Friday and we caught a train heading to Umbria.

We stepped off the train at the Assisi station, but we still had a ways to go. From the station to the city center was about a three kilometer walk. Don’t feel sorry for us, though — the views on the hike up were nothing short of stunning. In retrospect, I enjoyed the walk up and down as much as being in the city itself. We wound our way around the twisted city streets and arrived shortly after at the Basilica di San Francesco.

Francis is quite a legendary figure in Italy. He is obviously known for founding a new religious order and greatly influencing Christian perspectives on nature, but there are a great number of legends surrounding his life and work, perhaps most notably his reception of the stigmata. When one sees the Basilica dedicated to him, there is no doubt that Francesco was a highly respected and venerated man.

The lower level of the church was built first, and the space was constructed in such a way that it feels almost underground. That is not to say that it feels eerie or uncomfortable. The chapel, with it’s low ceilings and frescoed walls lit by candlelight, feels quiet, intimate, and peaceful. The upper basilica seems as though it were created to contrast the lower. Its high ceilings, tall, sweeping arches, and multiple levels of frescoes give the basilica a grand, spacious feel that forces one’s eyes to gaze upwards. The upper basilica is significant not only from a historical perspective, but also an artistic one. Many of the frescoes present were created by Cimabue and his workshop. Additionally, the lower frescoes are attributed to Giotto, although some historians dispute this. All debates aside, it is a truly impressive and beautiful church.

The following day, I went with some of the Arcadia students to Arezzo and Cortona. It was sad to see that not everyone came, but at the same time this made the visits a little more relaxed, which was a nice change of pace. The first place we visited in Arezzo was another church by the same name as the one in Assisi. However, this basilica dedicated to Francesco was much humbler in character. The outer facade and inner areas were much simpler and less ornate. Yet this was a refreshing change from the heavily-ornamented churches seen often elsewhere. Although quite different, this basilica was just as beautiful in its own right.

After some time in Arezzo, we drove on to Cortona. We started at the Santuario di Santa Margherita, a church set at the highest point of the hill, and then descended into the city. Our walk took us along the tops of walls that were built ages ago by the Etruscans. Cortona is a quiet, rustic town. The streets were lined with house after house made of a patchwork of intermingled stone, red brick, and stucco. It’s a strange place in that I cannot point to any certain thing that makes it so beautiful, but it just is. Finally I reached an outlook and was able to see the valley below, cast in a haze and illuminated by the setting sun. I have since returned to the US, but I cannot help but feel that I have left a part of me behind in Cortona.