Today was a different day. We decided to do a hike, crossing back into Tuscany and doing the Monte Cetona hike, 6 miles round trip. It was beautiful and the rain held off all day. Amazing. Granted, when we reached the top, the clouds had socked in and blocked the view, but they lightened before we left.
Leaf tried to go 4 wheeling again up the mountain, but All Trails got us back on track and we found our way to the trail head. We actually could have driven a lot of it since the hike was on a rough dirt road, but we were all ready for some exercise.
It was basically up all the way through a forest of trees with some cool flowers and birds singing away, the first one we identified was a cuckoo. Fun!
We came to a stone monument and a metal cross. There was a series of 14 crosses on the way up to a giant cross at the top, an amazing feat of determination to put that cross up on the top of the mountain.
Cathy did her best to decipher the stone plaque, but bit confusing. It seemed a team effort between different regions. Later found a description in Wikipedia:
On the mountain top stands a high metallic summit cross, built in 1967. It was realised to replace smaller crosses settled there after WWII. The realization of the project was promoted in 1965 by the parishes of Diocese of Chiusi, after the return of the local bishop from Rome where he took part in the Second Vatican Council. It was officially inaugurated on October the 1st of the same year by Brunetto Bucciarelli-Ducci.The lighting system was turned on for the first time June 29, 1968 at 9 o’clock in the evening, via radio control, by Pope Paul IV. The cross is 10 metres wide, 15 metres high and its weight is 6.200 tons.
Honestly, it seems like there must be more of a story about this cross because the effort to get the pieces up there and to construct it would have been huge, but haven’t found any more. But the views – wonderful.
We hiked back down and then at the car Leaf started finding ticks – we’d already said we needed to check for them. Unfortunately for him, but happily for us, he was the chosen one. It was my turn to drive, so I drove, and we laughed at the ongoing drama of the back seat as he found 1, 2, and when he found 3, I quickly pulled into a parking spot. We all jumped out and started rechecking our pants and legs.
We got back in a then Leaf found numbers 3, 4, maybe 8 tiny ticks by the end. Sharon and Cathy were squeezing to get away from him. Per usual, he was a good sport about it, but he started laundry as soon as we got home and we all contributed everything we were wearing for the day.
Before we got home, though, we went looking for lunch. The timing is tricky here, couldn’t shower first because everything would close down before we got back out. We used the recommendations that Katia, who’d welcomed us to the house, had given us. We had the most incredible meal. Well into the country, nothing else close, unassuming house – and yet, that was the restaurant.
We had a HUGE lunch and relished every bite. Many different flavors and we tried a lot of different dishes. Cathy was given a very large glass of wine that she felt terrible about because she rarely finishes a glass, and certainly not one this size. But it was ok because the owners loved chatting with her.
The owner took pride in telling us that his partner had earned multiple awards for her cooking and so she should have. It was a simple kitchen and she put out really interesting diverse foods. Here’s a photo of a desert we couldn’t resist, Rick and I each had one to ourselves, though neither of us could actually finish it. But boy was it delicious trying!
Before we left, Cathy had gotten a recipe from the chef and directions for where to go to buy these delicious lentils that we all loved.
Then home, showers, laundry and reading/writing. In the early evening, the caretaker came and opened the chapel so that we could see it. Very small and sweet and actually cool to see what a place like this might have had for a family chapel.
We had another incredible salad for dinner, but I could only eat a little and Rick had to forgo even the thought of it.
I loved today! Every day has been wonderful, but today was especially so because we spent the day in Assisi, home of St. Francis and Poor Clare – or St. Clare – Chiara in Italian. First, we drove to Perugia to get me signed on as a driver, but then very happily, Leaf kept driving. Because our first excitement of the day was confusion around GPS directions and finding parking near where we wanted to start our Rick Steves audio tour. Leaf drove, but he had a LOT of help from the peanut gallery who weren’t driving.
Leaf ended up winding through Perugia tracking and retracking to get us back on the way and then driving all through the medieval town of Assisi. We were scraping by walls and tourists alike with mere inches to spare with Sharon hyperventilating with the precariousnesses of the hills and driving. All of us were laughing so hard that by the time we parked, my sides hurt in ways I haven’t experienced in years. Leaf earned serious kudos from all of us. And parked right in the old city instead of one of the big parking lots. I didn’t get any photos because it was very hard to capture the situation, plus, like Sharon, there were times that both eyes and ears were covered. At one point, we circled the plaza in front of St. Claire’s cathedral which was NOT a driving area. Cathy was looking for any cameras that might capture the moment and trigger a ticket. We’ll all share the cost… Here’s a photo of Sharon beaming in pride at Leaf and Leaf recovering from the drama:
But back to Assisi. I think the reason that this cathedral and the stories had such an immediacy was because both Francis and Clare were born and died in Assisi and had a huge impact on their communities and far beyond. They were so revered in their work and commitment to Jesus that Francis was made a saint 2 days after he died and the Basilica was started the day after that. So when they say they have relics and robes – they really do.
St. Francis was born 1181/82 and died October 3, 1226, aged 44. Clare was born 16 July 1194 and died on August 11, 1253, aged 59. She was canonized on September 26, 1255, by Pope Alexander IV, also unusually quick. So both the town and the churches reflected a man and a woman who felt very present and real.
Per our custom now, we started our day (once parked) at a cafe – or in this case a bar that was actually a cafe. I had to choose this one because of the name, thinking of Kaz and Eli’s dog, Agnes’s. Of course, Agnes was also one of Clare’s sisters and very influential in her own right.
Once we gathered ourselves with coffee and pastry, we started off. In circles. We could not figure out the Rick Steve’s directions for the town tour, it actually was the least clear tour I’ve done and it’s probably my 5th or 6th to do? But we finally got traction. This is the Roman amphitheater, absorbed into a medieval circle of homes. The town gate was just a block away from which you could see out into Umbria – the “green heart of Italy”. It’s the only region that does not have a sea or other country boundary.
Then we started walking Assisi. The first place of note was the aqueduct built by the Romans and that still brings water to Assisi. There was a fountain that still works and was the gathering place during Roman times for collecting water for the houses in the area. I think I was wearing out re photos because I’m missing a lot. The two above were taken by Sharon and this is the only one I got of the aqueduct and you can see the edge of the fountain behind Rick. Raining pretty steadily, though not hard.
Then we came to the Cathedral of San Rufino, built in 1029, rebuilt in 1140. San Rufino is the patron saint of Assisi to this day and this cathedral is where both Francis and Clare were baptized and practiced until they became adults. Here’s the baptismal font where they were both baptized.
When you walk in, the first thing you register are the two statues of Francis and Clare. So here are the stories of the two.
(Biography.com) Saint Francis of Assisi, though revered today, began his life as a confirmed sinner. His father was a wealthy cloth merchant who owned farmland around Assisi, and his mother was a beautiful Frenchwoman. Francis was not in want during his youth; he was spoiled, indulging himself with fine food, wine, and wild celebrations. By age 14, he had left school and become known as a rebellious teenager who frequently drank, partied and broke the city curfew. He was also known for his charm and vanity.
In these privileged surroundings, Francis of Assisi learned the skills of archery, wrestling and horsemanship. He was expected to follow his father into the family textile business but was bored by the prospect of life in the cloth trade. Instead of planning a future as a merchant, he began daydreaming of a future as a knight; knights were Medieval action heroes, and if Francis had any ambition, it was to be a war hero like them. In 1202 war broke between Assisi and Perugia, and Francis eagerly took his place with the cavalry.
Francis and the men of Assisi came under heavy attack, and in the face of superior numbers, they took flight. The whole battlefield was soon covered with the bodies of butchered, mutilated men, screaming in agony. Most of the surviving Assisi troops were immediately put to death.
Unskilled and with no combat experience, Francis was quickly captured by enemy soldiers. Dressed like an aristocrat and wearing expensive new armor, he was considered worthy of a decent ransom, and the soldiers decided to spare his life. He and the other wealthy troops were taken as prisoners, led off to a dank underground cell. Francis would spend nearly a year in such miserable conditions — awaiting his father’s payment — during which time he may well have contracted a serious disease. Also during this time, he would later report, he began to receive visions from God.
After a year of negotiations, Francis’ ransom was accepted, and he was released from prison in 1203. When he came back to Assisi, however, Francis was a very different man. Upon his return, he was dangerously sick in both mind and body — a battle-fatigued casualty of war.
One day, as legend has it, while riding on a horse in the local countryside, Francis encountered a leper. Prior to the war, Francis would have run from the leper, but on this occasion, his behavior was very different. Viewing the leper as a symbol of moral conscience — or as Jesus incognito, according to some religious scholars — he embraced and kissed him, later describing the experience as a feeling of sweetness in his mouth. After this incident, Francis felt an indescribable freedom. His earlier lifestyle had lost all of its appeal.
Subsequently, Francis, now in his early 20s, began turning his focus toward God. Instead of working, he spent an ever-increasing amount of time at a remote mountain hideaway as well as in old, quiet churches around Assisi, praying, looking for answers, and helping nurse lepers. During this time, while praying before an old Byzantine crucifix at the church of San Damiano, Francis reportedly heard the voice of Christ, who told him to rebuild the Christian Church and to live a life of extreme poverty. Francis obeyed and devoted himself to Christianity. He started rebuilding the church of Saint Domian by carrying rocks by hand. He also began preaching around Assisi and was soon joined by 12 loyal followers.
OK – I’ll stop there, but the story goes on describing how his devotion and preaching spread. I found it fascinating. In the upper basilica there is a series of frescoes by Giotto that tells of Saint Francis’ life. They’re just wonderful. We were told how the windows and the murals all over the church were teaching tools for those who couldn’t read, but could see the lives of saints and be inspired. We weren’t allowed to take photos in the lower basilica, where St. Francis‘ bones are buried. Some of his and Clare’s robes and other pieces of their lives are displayed as well. Amazing.
And now, Saint Chiara’s story.
(Biography.com) Clare was born in Assisi, Italy, in 1193 to wealthy parents, and was taught to read and write as well as spin yarn and do needlework. She had little interest in her luxurious surroundings (she lived in a palace), and influenced by her mother’s religious devotion, Clare dedicated her life to God at an early age. She also showed early on that her calling would involve helping the poor, as she set aside food from her family table to give to the needy on the streets.
When Clare was 18, Francis of Assisi came to preach in the church of San Giorgio at Assisi. Inspired by his words, Clare asked Francis to help her in dedicating her life to God, and he vowed to do so. The following year (1211), Clare’s parents chose a wealthy young man for Clare to marry, but she pointedly refused, fleeing soon after for the Porziuncola Chapel, where Francis received her. She took vows dedicating her life to God, and that moment, occurring on March 20, 1212, marked the beginning of the Second Order of Saint Francis.
Clare’s sister Agnes soon joined her, and they moved to the Church of San Damiano, recently rebuilt by Francis. It wasn’t long before other women joined them, and San Damiano’s residents, known for their ascetic lifestyle, became known as the “Poor Ladies.” (Known as the Order of San Damiano, 10 years after Clare’s death the order would be renamed the Order of Saint Clare.)
Again, I could go on about her followers and the growth of the community, but you can read that. But – she was flat out amazing.
So now we come to the Basilica, the first stone of which was placed the day after St. Francis was canonized. There’s an upper and a lower basilica, as well as a cloister. So much to see. In addition, as one approaches, there’s a plaza with a series of arches in which were stores in the medieval times that people could visit on the way in and out. I’m afraid I was so caught up in the stories (Rick Steve had a tour for the basilica as well) that I got very few photos, but here are a few.
Here it is behind us:
Cloister:
One of the most famous of the frescoes of St. Francis “Sermon to the Birds” – alludes to the truth that all are welcome, all are able to hear the message of Jesus’ love. Tradition has given to Giotto, the best-known naturalistic painter of his period, the authorship of these works, or at the least, the credit for having designed them.
The church for St. Clare was San Damiano. There is another newer one, bigger, that was built after her death because the numbers of her followers had grown so much. However, the small church of San Damiano was just wonderful. It was built between the 8th and 9th century and had fallen into ruin when Francis had a directive “by the Crucifix: “Go Francis and rebuild my house, which as you can see is falling into ruin”. Francis restored it in 1206. He predicted that this place would become the dwelling place of Clare and the other Sisters of San Damiano (Poor Clares) who remained here from 1211 until 1260.” This is where St. Francis wrote the Canticle of the Creatures in 12225. I didn’t get a photo (getting quite tired), but here’s a stock photo of the outside.
Inside was quiet, more people were sitting in meditation and prayer, so again, few photos.
The cloister:
Here’s a story about the cloister that was posted in the church: The Cloister was a haven of peace. Clare, in September 1240, confronted the troops of the Saracens led by the emperor Frederick II of Germany, who entered the cloister. Clare ordered to be brought, infirm as she was, to the door facing the enemies, preceded by the small silver box in which the body of Christ was kept. The Saracens, struck by the force of her prayer, very quickly left the place of San Damiano. The city of Assisi continues to celebrate this liberating event of Clare with the “Festa del Voto” (Feast of the Promise), every year.
There’s so much more that could be written about both the saints, but there was more to be seen in Assisi, so will move on to a few other highlights.
Here’s the Basilica of St. Clare, started in 1260 seven years after her death, and is where her bones are buried. The plaza in front of it is where Leaf drove a circle as we tried to figure out where to go next. Notice the lack cars…
Having remained, like the body of St. Francis himself, hidden for six centuries, Clare’s tomb was found in 1850 after a prolonged search. On Sep 23 that year, the coffin was unearthed and opened. The flesh and clothing of the saint had been reduced to dust, but the skeleton was perfectly preserved. On Sep 29, 1872, the saint’s bones were transferred to a shrine in the crypt of the Basilica of Saint Clare. And this was a scene because of the fervor and devotion of people going down to the tomb, women falling to their knees, praying, crying. Not all, but it wasn’t rare. It felt too disrespectful to take photos any closer with those who were so moved, but this is the layered approach to the crypt.
The cross below is the San Damiano Cross that St. Francis was praying before when he received the commission from the Lord to rebuild the Church. It now permanently resides here with a copy in San Damiano.
The view from the plaza in front of the Basilica of St. Clare:
The day was just wonderful and a gift. Tomorrow, we’ll take a break from touring and hike 🙂
Had our first Umbrian adventure – went to Orvieto for the day. We had a few things we wanted to do, primarily an underground series of tunnels from Roman times – and completely missed on that because it was sold out by the time we went to buy tickets. But we walked around the, yes, medieval town and explored. Raining most of the time, but raincoats and umbrellas worked and we saw most of the town.
The first thing we did was to go down the Well of St. Patrick. Amazing construction of two spiral staircases circling the well. We didn’t read the initial sign too carefully and were curious about the width and shallow depth of the 248 steps down and 249 steps back up and admired the 70 arched windows. Turns out the stairs were designed with windows all the way down for light and with that stair scale so that mules could go down one side and back up the other bringing up bags of water for the towns people. I’m guessing it was hard on the mules, but it was a beautiful design. The Well of St. Patrick was dug at the behest of Pope Clement VII, who had taken refuge in Orvieto during the Sack of Rome in 1527 and designed by Florentine Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.
Looking up from the bottom.
Took a bus up from the Well and really started the day with our first coffee –
Then we walked and walked, got lost, walked some more and finally felt like we’d seen most of the town, so stopped for lunch.
Then off to the Duomo, yes, another church. This time, though, we didn’t have any English interpretations for the amazing frescoes and just guessed.
The outside was beautiful, striking and different because of the vividness of the mosaics against the stone. It was started in 1270 and additions continued up until the 1600’s, with the front facade primarily from the 1300’s. Incredible that they’re still so gorgeous. In addition, in the 60’ s Emilio Greco created the bronze doors for the cathedral. The aesthetics were not in dispute, but a national controversy broke out about the church’s historical cycle and when should the cycle be complete for the cathedral. The doors were finally hung in 1970. I thought they were beautiful and in keeping with the cathedral. They now have an exhibit of Greco in the museum next to the duomo. The artist donated statues with statues to Orvieto in recognition of their commitment to him and his art.
We then explored an archeological museum with treasures found in Etruscan tombs. The objects were amazing, made from ceramic, gold, glass, bronze and iron. Primarily from 5th to 3rd centuries BC. Cathy and I were fascinated and spent a long time exploring. Leaf and Sharon fully hit jet lag and Sharon curled up on a bench to sleep a bit while listening to us in the other room – we were the only ones in the museum. They couldn’t believe how long we took and that we had to discuss every single display case. Funny – but they’re right, we took a LONG time. I’d read about the Etruscan finds a number of times, so loved finally getting to see some of the remarkable art. Rick was on a phone call so missed it all. And I didn’t take a single photo!
But then Rick called and he had wandered into the Palazzo Papale (now Palazzo Soliano) attached to the right of the cathedral. It was originally begun in the mid-13th century when the popes moved to Orvieto to escape conflict in Rome. It now shows art removed from the Duomo for protection. What I loved most were these two pieces of Mary and Mary Magdalene.
And then we were on our way home in the rain. Getting back to the tower was a great retreat, made our salad and snack dinner, with the heat turned on in the kitchen. And then to books and bed.
Today we did one of my favorite things – unloading. We spent 1.5 hours in the post office packing up 2 boxes, listing all the contents, doing all the forms, to send home all the things we no longer needed after the hiking. The guy in the post office – the only one – was so nice, patient and knew enough English that we got through it. We’ll see what gets home. And by the time we were, done there was a gathering of about 10 people behind us, all sitting on the benches, chatting, laughing, knowing who was which number in the line. Then they waved and smiled as we left, bless those hapless Americans…
We had a few more hours before Sharon, Cathy, and Leaf came from Rome to pick us up (!) so we went back to the hotel and repeated our wonderful morning of quiet by the pool.
Then, here they came – so fun meeting friends in Italy! We loaded our things into the car, then walked into town to have lunch at the same place, this time with Cathy interpreting when it got a bit confusing. Then we drove out of Tuscany into Umbria. It continues to be beautiful, it feels a little less groomed, more fields that are a bit less cultivated, and maybe a bit drier – but not this week! Rain expected every day so we’ll just work around it.
We got to our tower – hah! Really, it’s absolutely crazy, but this is our VRBO rental for the week. We couldn’t believe it even though we’d obviously seen the photos on line. It’s so beautiful. We walked around the property with Katia, the wonderful person who manages the property for Emma Villas. The grounds were immacately kept, roses, a pool (way too cold) and we just enjoyed looking at the outside. Then inside – 8 bedrooms – 4 of which are in the tower stacked on top of each other. And it’s so quiet! Outside and inside, the walls are thick and the doors are inches wide of solid wood. Very cool. Sharon said downright spooky when in it alone when the rest of us walked to Panicale, a few kilometers away.
The sitting room where we spend time when not eating and the view from the balcony that we don’t go on – too cold, but pretty out the window!
The dining room and living room where we don’t go – too cold and odd smell, cleaning? But fun to see on the first walk through:
Where we spend most of our time:
Panicale is another medieval town, tiny, wonderful. I want to go back, sit in the plaza with a decaf (descafeinada) and watch the town. When we walked through the town, around 6, there were about 2 people out and we were walking, not dawdling (I like dawdling), so didn’t stick around to see if more would come out. We think people live here, but this has been a pretty common pattern in a fair number of towns. So well kept, clean, cared for gardens and no people. But then we drove through the next morning around 10:30 and there were a ton of cars. Clearly a rhythm of living that we haven’t figured out. Saw the sunset from the plaza in Panicale:
And sunset on our walk back – first one I’ve seen since arriving here, beautiful:
Roadside shrine:
And back to the drive up to the house, oh, sorry, tower:
We got back to the tower and we all layered in all the thin clothes we had and huddled in the kitchen for a wonderful dinner of salad and ad hoc of cheeses and hams (I’ll have eaten a full pig by the time I leave, sigh) and crackers. We finally figured out it was possible to turn on the radiator the next morning – so at least the kitchen is a bit warm. Towers and castles are cold. Katia had told us that if we wanted to turn on the heat, it could be between 200-500 euros for the week. Whatever we turned was a small system and only does a few key areas, kitchen and sitting room.
Here’s the history of “our” torre, Torre d’Orlando, courtesy of the owners: The tower is all that remains of the ancient castle of old Paciano, which was one of the most important in the area of Lake Trasimeno as it is situated on the old road which takes you from Perugia via Panicale to Chiusi. It is first mentioned in 917 (well, no wonder it’s hard to heat). In 1312, there was a new ruler of the area. Then, in the early 1400’s, Bartolomeo I di Felcino Armani, the husband of Sismonba di Cola Bartolini used her dowry of 800 gold florins to purchase the property.
In 1434, the Tower was under the Papal rule of Eugenio IV who gave the responsibility of rebuilding the castle to Tanrrebi I Bourbon and from then on it was passed down through the generations to today.
Amazing. Cold, but amazing. Rick said it’s wonderful, but probably won’t use ideas from here as we plan for our house…
Mother’s Day – which Rick remembered as soon as he woke up. So sweet – he’s made this a special day every year from the very beginning when Kylie was born. In fact – that’s what he said – happy Mother’s Day, your 30th! A Mother’s Day from years ago:
This Mother’s Day:
We had a day completely dislocated from agenda, requirements, calendar appointments, expectations. A rare rare day. And we loved it. Rick woke at the unheard of time of 7:15, I’d been reading a romance (what better way to start the day) for an hour, we had a leisurely breakfast, then we sat and had quiet time for an hour near the pool. Not raining – another happy thing – looking over the Tuscan countryside with the birds, the pool’s little waterfall sounding beside us. It was amazing.
Then we walked into town for a bit of circular around the walls of the town, exploring all the little curving streets and a few shops that were open. I just love the golden stone and shapes of the streets. This town is an Unesco World Heritage town named after Saint Quirico, an 3 year old martyr and his mother Julieta who angered the Romans.
This is the church for the Via Francigena – Chiesa Santa Maria de Assunta, 12th century. Our favorite church in the town, plain, simple and the hospital (hospitality for pilgrims) was across the way with a beautiful well.
The roses have been gorgeous.
Built into the wall, this thin building below had two apartments, the top one a vacation rental. I’d love to see inside a lot of the created apartments and homes – so much ingenuity to have 20th century homes inside buildings from the Middle Ages.
I know about arrow holes in these walls; I’d love to know that this specific design is for:
On top of the wall:
And a wonderful garden, Horti Leonini, with a formal design below and a “wild” garden above was designed in 1580 by Diomede Leoni. Francesco I de’Medici gave him the land for the garden. It’s the same today as it was in the 1500’s. I’m standing in the wild garden…
After our wandering, Rick and I had lunch at the place two different people had recommended. Food was good, atmosphere was great, seeing older couples and groups coming in dressed up after church, chatting, holding the hands of very old small women. I loved it.
Back to the hotel where we read/dozed and then got up and took a walk – because that’s what you do in Tuscany – and marveled yet again at how beautiful it was.
As Rick said, “you couldn’t make this up,” talking about how beautiful the scenery was today. We had a quiet easy walk, little over 13. It went quickly and no rain! Astonishing.
This rose caught our eye and we realized there were roses planted at the end of each row, each a different color. Beautiful!
That’s Rick in the distance walking up the hill, getting some quiet time.
We arrived in San Quirico, another beautiful little medieval village in Tuscany. Our last before we meet up with Sharon, Leaf, and Cathy on Monday and go to Umbria.
We had lunch at the hotel and then walked into town to the laundromat and got all of our clothes clean. On Monday, we’ll send a bunch of things back to CO so that we have lighter loads when we meet up. 5 people in an Italian size car requires small luggage 🙂
We had a quick walk around town while waiting for the wash to be done and are looking forward to going back tomorrow and exploring at leisure. Our first stop today was a tiny church built around 1060 with a wonderful large statue of Mary in the front. My kind of church. And a bonus, no one was there except for a nun up front who was practicing some songs with a device that gave her background music to support. Rick and I sat down and just enjoyed.
Dinner at the hotel, too tired to go back into town, we’ll eat in town tomorrow. Kind of nice to have some quiet with no expectations and no agenda.
Bob and Susan left this morning; it was such a gift getting to travel with them. Bob took the lead every day, just striding off and carrying the heaviest pack since he packed all the food for the four of us and made it look easy. Hope they have a great day in Rome!
Rick and I had an early breakfast and made a firm decision to not take a chance on walking because 90+ chance of not only rain, but also thunderstorms. So we decided to walk Siena with Rick Steves and his audio guide. What a great decision. He missed the synagogue, but got many other things and we learned way more than we would have if we’d tried to do it on our own.
We started at the Campo, the center of Siena life, looks now basically what it looked like in the 1300’s, astonishing (though I’m guessing that indoor plumbing’s been added). The engineering of water run off and all going down towards the town hall and this beautiful drain, just beautiful. Hard to capture in a photo, but did my best. Siena was a republic and all was based on that, so that they built the duomo (cathedral) with the town council and the community, a rare exception of a town run on political lines and not by the church. The town tower here in the campo was the highest tower outside of church towers for many years. The photo below is the long view in an effort to capture the remarkable planning, it’s smaller than this makes it look. It’s around this plaza that the Palio is run in July and again in August. Hard to imagine in that heat 60,000 people packed into the center of the plaza, a trail of sand laid down around the outside and 10 of the 17 districts in the old city have a horse that runs. Whichever horse crosses first after 3 circuits, whether the jockey is still on its back or not, wins for its district. It looks like a crazy crazy scene.
Fountain of Joy, so named because it was the communal source for water in the 1300’s and everyone gathered here, images of all kinds of women helping others all around the fountain.
I really couldn’t capture the entire circle of the buildings, but amazing.
We learned a ton, courtesy of Rick Steves. We started with the roof tour of the cathedral, though Rick had to take some of the photos. Looking down into the cathedral and close to the vaulted ceiling and over the town. How in the world did they do this in the 1200’s – 1300’s? Just boggles the mind. So lucky to see it early before most people were out and about. And this is just the front, it’s incredible all the way around. The bottom half of the duomo was built in the 1200’s. 22 of the 23 kinds marble came from Tuscany, 1 from France. Incredible.
Me, making it around the walkway without looking at all, hanging on the wall and the railing at the spots where it just dropped off, ach.
Rick took this with my camera – the church where St. Catherine’s (Caterina) relics are held. She was a remarkable woman and did all of this before she died at the age of 33. From Wikipedia: Catherine of Siena is one of the outstanding figures of medieval Catholicism due to the strong influence she had in the history of the papacy and her extensive authorship.[9] She was behind the return of the Pope from Avignon to Rome, and then carried out many missions entrusted to her by the pope, something quite rare for a woman in the Middle Ages. Her Dialogue, hundreds of letters, and dozens of prayers, also give her a prominent place in the history of Italian literature.
The Piccolini altar design was all supposed to be by Michelangelo. He did the figure of St. Paul on the lower right, but then got “distracted” by working on The David and others did the rest. The figure of St. Paul is amazing.
The image below was everywhere, often on top of high columns and we couldn’t figure out what it was about. Turns out the she-wolf is the image for both Sienna and Rome. Rome was named for Remus and Romulus, brothers who were abandoned and nurtured by a she-wolf and who later founded Rome. Then one of them had a son, Siena, who traveled up from Rome and founded Siena.
Siena was strong and mighty and flush until the black plague hit in 1348 and they never recovered. Luckily, they were not hit in WWII, only Sienna and Venice were spared, so Siena is a wonderfully preserved medieval town, as seen from the roof of the Duomo.
So many many things to see, but the final one was the building where the first bank in the world started:
Both Rick and Bob got a kick out of seeing this – and the bank’s still going!
After our tour, we took a cab to our next destination and were very happy we did so as we drove through torrential rain and hail, repeat of yesterday. Then arrived at a cool farmhouse – so different from what we envision at home – that at its peak in the summer can hold 140 people. Crazy.
This is just one set of buildings, they were scattered around, a whole complex.
They have a farm to table restaurant that’s well known and the farm supplies oats, farro, cannellini beans and more to all kinds of companies. Food at dinner was fine, basic, but the rainbow that came out as we arrived at the restaurant was absolutely spectacular. It actually went to the ground, don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. There’s a second one just building from the left…
Then it was quiet and cold and wonderful for the night.
We were determined to walk today, supposed to only be 12+ miles and all of us had energy after taking the day off yesterday. Rain was predicted for 1pm and we wanted to see if we could get most of it done. It ended up being 14+ and 3 more walking around Siena. Made up for missing the day before!
But first – somehow, I didn’t include photos of the town of Monteriggioni yesterday. The first was the 13th century church, then the village in the rain.
Last night, the woman at the hotel had recommended a restaurant 300 feet away, there was a choice of 4! But we went to the one she recommended and it was a fantastic meal. So so good and I’m not even a foodie. Then because the town was all of about 3 blocks long, it quieted down quickly and the window was open and Rick and I both actually slept. Amazing.
The hotel owners had said that they started breakfast at 8:30. After some discussion, we decided we just oculdn’t leave that late, wanted to leave at 7:30 latest and we told them, no problem, we bought sandwiches and had a few snacks, so would be fine. Plus, we’d eaten so much the night before, no big deal on missing a meal.
Then we woke up, got our bags down (thank you elevator) and found that the older man had gotten up early and set out his full breakfast for the guests. We couldn’t believe it. We actually were good to go, but no way, so sat down and had cappuccino, tea, and the usual bread, cheese, ham, fruit, etc. Then he brought out warm croissants that looked gorgeous and I broke my usual and had bread – and it wasn’t just bread – it was wonderful. Never had a warm perfect croissant with jam inside. Wow. Way to start the day happy.
And off we went. Happily, it was sunny, perfect temp and beautiful again. Leaving the gate and onto the VF:
Impact from the rain the day before:
We’re walking along and I see the sign for a castle. The Castella della Chiocciola. Huh, well, it is huge and in the midst of nothing, so took the photo.
Oh, no, there it is, but doesn’t look like we can get too close.
Oh, this is definitely a castle. All within 200 feet or so of each other! Though staggered on opposite sides of the VF.
The Castle of La Chiocciola, built in the 14th century, known for the resistance it opposed to armies of Spaniards and Austrians during the war of Siena in 1555. it takes its name from beautiful stone winding stairs connecting the stories of a cylindrical tower. Clearly, I hadn’t read the full sign…
I said, there’s someone living there. Rick said no way, noone’s living there. Yes, I think they are. Nope. Well, I’m going to walk up to the gate. And I did and waved to the person hanging out the window. Walked back down and then 2 cars full of people pulled in the drive, making Rick move out of the way. I would love to have been able to join them to see what they were going to see. We’ve realized we can’t at all guess which buildings have people living in them and which don’t. Some are pristine, all are beautiful, but boy, it looks like so much work to manage farm/vineyards/buildings. I hope there are many magical moments for people who live in these historical buildings and keep them alive.
We kept going, had our sandwiches,
kept going and then the rain hit. We started getting close to Siena, and it started thundering, bit of lightening and then it started pouring.
It lightened up, we thought we were good
And then it was really pouring. Then hailing. Rick almost ruined his phone trying to figure out where we were going, it took all night to recover. The last 2 miles walking through Siena towards the old city were at least 5 miles long, we were definitely wearing out. But we got to our hotel right at 2:15 and they said if we could get down there in 5 minutes, they’d give us lunch. AND they’d taken our bags up to our rooms which was really nice because it was up several floors and no elevator. We had soup and salad and it was perfect. The soup was the one that Stanley Tucci showed his mom making in the Tuscany episode of his show. Seriously perfect for cold sopping people, albeit in dry clothes after a quick change.
Then we took an hour to shower and recover and started off again walking to see Siena. Bob and Susan were leaving the next day (no!!!!!) to go to Rome and then fly home so we needed to see what we could see. And it was so cool. We went first to the synagogue. Unbelievable history of survival, from the 1200’s with records showing a yeshiva. The ghetto was created in 1571 by Medici upon orders by the pope. The synagogue we saw was built in 1756 on orders of another pope who wanted the community to have only 1 synagogue rather than the 10 or so that were scattered around.
Such a smart decision to take a cab today instead of walking. To say it poured would be putting it mildly – all day. But we got to take our time in the morning which was a treat. I got out early and was able to see the town in the rain and empty of the floods of tourists that came off the buses starting around 10. I felt so lucky to be able to spend the night in San Gimignano and to have those moments in the morning.
We then went to the castle/mansion? Not sure what they called it in the day, Musei Civici now. We thought it told the history of the town, but it was actually an art museum in the home of the “podesta” or rulers of the town from the Middle Ages. It had the meeting room where Dante was a delegate from Florence. There’re a lot of Dante things here, though he was only here a few months (per the woman at the desk at our hotel). But in the main room is art and a bust of him from when he was negotiating in the war between Florence and Sienna.
This is the room with a mural on the right from 1317, don’t when the others were painted. Dante was there in May of 1300, so just missed the painting…
There was a tower that was an active tower since it was connected to the seat of power. I got part way up and could see so much of the countryside, then I came down when everyone else climbed up and up…
I enjoyed some of the medieval art focusing on Mary and the female saints. The most famous of whom, in San Gimignano, is Saint Fina. Again, the woman at the desk was lovely telling us about Saint Fina. She is adored in the town and every year on March 12 flowers bloom and there’s a celebration for Saint Fina. I started reading about her in Wikipedia and seriously wished I’d seen the chapel and scenes in the Cathedral that Rick, Sue and Bob were asking about – the chapel for Saint Fina.
But in synopsis, in 1248 at the age of 10, Fina, a sweet and joyful girl from a poor family, contracted a paralyzing illness and for five years chose to lay on a wooden pallet instead of a bed and to pray, particularly to St. Gregory the Great, who predicted several things to her when she saw him, including her death date, March 12, 1253. When she died white violets appeared on the walls of San Gimignano. When the woman at the desk was telling us about this, she said they appear to this day on March 12, blooming all over the walls and tower and there’s a grand festival.
Loved this piece from her wikipedia story: “The most important thing “produced” in the memory of Saint Fina is the hospital, which took her name and was built in 1255 thanks to donations given at her tomb. The hospital gave hospitality to old and poor people and pilgrims too. It became in the following century one of the best in Tuscany. The building changed its name in 1816 and remained in function until the end of the 20th century. In the hospital’s chapel, the original oak wood table (Rick would roll his eyes; I’m happy to believe) where Saint Fina lay down for five years is preserved.” Wish I could have gone to see this!
I first learned about Saint Fina when I saw a wood tabernacle painted by Lorenzo di Niccolò in 1402 depicting Saint Fina holding a model of San Gimignano along with eight scenes of her life and miracles.
The last thing I enjoyed in the Civic Museum was the Camera del Podesta. This room had a series of frescoes from the 1500’s celebrating love.
Frescoes of the Camina del Podesta
I don’t know if this mural video will send, but I hope so. The pictures came through so clearly! Incredible that they’re so well preserved from the early 1300’s.
From Visitworldheritage.com:
Camera del Podestà—or the chamber of the highest office of the village—had frescoes of a love story painted by Memmo Di Filippuccio, San Gimignano’s civic painter. The room is also a famous location for marriage proposals. Here, love is the pillar of life. It is also possible to see what happens when love is not respected.
On the left side of the room, there is the amoral couple that could never get together because the young groom was lured by two deceitful women who steal his goods, beat him, and leave him aching. In this case, love is dangerous. Nearby, there is another tragic love: “Paolo e Francesca,” the famous lovers from Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri—their faces rubbed out in a sort of “damnatio memoriae.”
On the right wall, there are scenes of marital love. The bride and groom are meeting their relatives surrounded by symbols of loyalty. The real masterpieces are the last two scenes: the young couple, now married, enjoys the intimacy of a warm bath. Finally, the nuptial bed embraces the couple, giving love the opportunity to fulfill one of its highest tasks: create life.
Then time to leave this wonderful town and to go to another one! Our taxi was right on time and while it poured down, we moved dryly from San Gimignano to Monteriggioni. Oh my lord, another totally cool town. This is much smaller, completely encircled by the medieval walls with room between outer wall for a garden before the first row of houses, a wee street, then another row of houses, finally the plaza with the church, a museum of medieval warfare and siege and our hotel, just 2 doors down from the museum, right in the center of town!.
Picture of the town from the museum, pretty much still looks the same, but has modern plumbing and some great food:
The church is tiny and I thought would invite some sitting, but honestly, it was dark and the imagery didn’t call, but still a sweet church for a tiny town and the bells ringing at noon were great!
The museum was our last visit after walking the walls a bit on a new supported structure, then the town and getting sandwiches for tomorrow’s hike (bread, cheese, ham – same every day).
Lucky, lucky, lucky is all I can say. I fell on a rock yesterday so have a cranky knee, Bob pulled his hamstring a bit, Rick – well, more than can be written. And yet, today was just fantastic. So incredibly beautiful and on our way to San Gimignano, the reason I chose this segment of the Via Francigena. Rick said at one point, “I think it’s even more beautiful than yesterday!” Really, we couldn’t believe it.
We were supposed to do 9 miles today, but started off a little differently. We did a full circle of Gambassi Terme, ending up back in front of our hotel. Another mile. Huh. So we all stopped talking for a bit and starting paying more attention. The VF has more signs for norte than the Caminos. Probably because the first pilgrimage by Sigeric was from south to north. That’s just a guess. But we did a circle of north and south VF signs. Found the right way, then we were off!
Two of the scenes we got to see twice:
Scenery shots:
The first interesting structure we found was a convent, Santuario di Pancole – The English part of the sign: in 1668 the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a young deaf-mute girl called Bartolomea Ghini. She was cured and thereafter the Mother of God arranged for the provision of her poor family’s basic necessities, flour, wine and oil. Thereafter she was venerated as the Mother of Divine Providence. In 1670 the Sanctuary was built, but was destroyed by German soldier in 1944 and reconstructed in 1949. Rick said – really? There was no reason at all to bomb this place, it has no regional importance, just nuns living peacefully.
We couldn’t go in the sanctuary’s church because we very much had the wrong clothes on – so didn’t see the famous painting from the 1400’s by Pier Francesco Florentino which represents the Blessed Virgin breast feeding the Holy Child (really, it can’t be like what I’m imagining, may have to google) BUT – we could walk down to the grotto, a small cave with an elaborate set up of the nativity.
Our next interesting site was the Monastero di Bose a Cellole. The most wonderful monastery, still active (Rick looked through the door after they called for prayers and saw 4 monks and 2 visitors in the service). It is a 12th century Romanesque church, austere, quiet and wonderful. They take guests for retreat and Rick was ready to sign up.
Then we arrived in San Gimignano, had a quick rinse (it was quite hot today) and then had the best lunch – best meal – we’ve had since we arrived in Italy. Fantastic and attached to the hotel. Hotel was definitely a lovely tick up.
View of the town on approach:
Showered, took a bit of time and then started walking around San Gimignano. It’s as wonderful as I’d hoped. The others fell in love too, so fascinated by the walls, the streets, the history. The main cathedral had a whole series of murals that were remarkable. We couldn’t get the audio to download – too big a file, but we’re going to listen to it belatedly. But can’t give any info here.
Unfortunately, the museum I’d most hoped to see, archeological, is closed for updates and the famous Etruscan statues are elsewhere. But – still everything was a treat.
There were 72 towers in this town, 13 remain. Most were built as testament to wealth and importance and were not functional, but it definitely still gives the look of a feudal Tuscan town. I didn’t capture the towers well. I’ll try tomorrow morning.
It’s amazing because there are original paintings outside that they’ve preserved by removing, securing to a fiber glass support and putting right back up. Without a cover! The painting below, Virgin with Child, was painted circa 1370 and was outside in the patio below.
None of us were ready to leave, so we looked at the next walk. It’s actually supposed to be the one of the most beautiful of the entire Via Francigena, but…we’re going to miss. We decided we’d rather sleep late, go to the museum of San Gimignano and learn more about the town. Then we’ll take a taxi through the downpour that’s supposed to happen all day tomorrow – to another totally cool town and hotel. We made the decision at dinner and had dessert to celebrate! All of us were psyched, relieved and ready to rest the aches and pains. Plus Rick slammed his big toe against a lip of the bathroom, he’s beginning to wonder what in the world is going on. But he’s a trooper and in good spirits.
Reb's Walks! 