Assisi

We finally made our first trip via train to another part of Tuscany. We were fortunate enough to get a lift to the Chiusi railway station by Linda which was fantastic as she did it so we didn't have to catch the bus. This was the first time we have caught a train without our big suitcases which was great. It took us a couple of hours to get there but it was worth the time.

Assisi is a very special town as it is the birthplace of St. Francis who founded the Franciscans order in 1208 and St Clare who founded an order of nuns. We caught the bus from the station which takes you into the town and decided to start at the top end and work our way down to the Basilica of Saint Francesco. We first visited the Saint Rufino Cathedral which houses the body of Bishop Rufino who was martyred some time after 238 AD. We then made out way down looking in at the numerous churches along the way until reaching the Saint Francis Basilica. It's is an amazing place as it houses a church within a church. We were able to travel below the lower church to the burial place of Saint Francis which has a very reverent atmosphere.

I had noticed earlier a group of men and women putting on choir outfits and asked one of them were they going to sing and was told they were a pilgrim choir from America and that we could stay and listen to them sing prayers. Their voices were incredible and very moving with harmonies and soloist reverberating in acoustics of the church.

We them walked up the stairs to the second church above, which was filled with frescoes depicting the life of St. Francis. We both were very moved by the whole day and would have liked to stay longer but we needed to get back in the bus to travel the 4 k to the train station.