Assisi
a little walk along the way of st francis
Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by ✨ If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I meander through midlife, connecting to my true self through the seasonal shifts and simpler living, and seeking my inner wise woman. If you are also on this path and looking for someone to walk gently beside you, I see you and am here. Let’s color outside the lines together.
I know that I have taken my sweet time in sharing tidbits from my writers retreat journey in May, but I’ve got to say revisiting a town gradually through the rest of this year has been beautifully grounding. It has also illustrated synchronicities that have popped up during this year. I went to a retreat by Mirabai Starr a couple of weeks ago, just after I had begun pondering this post and it happened to fall on the feast day of St. Francis….a gentle push from the universe to move forward ✨
Assisi has a rich history. It’s first inhabitants were the Umbrians, who inhabited much of central Italy and were the most ancient people of the country, first recorded by the Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus.1 Ultimately the Romans took control of the area and much of the architecture from the Roman era can still be seen in Assisi. In the 12th century Assisi was an independent commune when St. Francis was born; he was the creator of the catholic Franciscan order and is one of the patron saints of Italy. During this same time St. Clare, a follower and protege of St. Francis assisted him in founding the Order of Poor Ladies (Poor Clares). In the 16th century it was annexed into the Papal states.
Assisi was a day full of walking and exploring. It is a very hilly town with steep cobblestone streets in all directions so we definitely got our workout! We were dropped off at the at the upper town of the walled city, and then were picked up in the valley below. It was a warm and sunny day and the expected rain held off until later in the evening.
At first trying to navigate our way to the main street, we got lost among side streets. Imagine a large wooden carriage wheel and each of the spokes being another street. They were narrow and picturesque and almost always included stone stairs going up! After retracing our steps we found the Piazza Del Comune, a bustling area that was to be our meeting place on the walk back. From there we began a long march along the Via San Francesco. It is a street that is filled with trattorias and shops, and leads to the basilica. We did a little window shopping as well as picked up some handmade pottery from a local artisan who’s great-grandfather started the shop. The walk to view the basilica itself is not for the faint of heart, and as you approach and begin to see it in the distance you get a sense of what the pilgrims must have felt.
Our return from Assisi dovetailed into our final evening as a group. We got comfortable and had a little ‘writing apertivo’ on the patio. Just then a slight drizzle started and we all went into the dining area to escape the coming rain. Tonight was a special night as our hosts were making pizza for us. We all had little notebooks that Rosie had given us on the first day, and I suggested we send them around and all sign each others, much like we did as kids in yearbooks. At the beginning of the week we’d been assigned another attendee to observe. We gathered around and each presented our attendee to the group, while everyone guessed who we were talking about. It was a fun and bonding experience and a great way to end the retreat. I headed to bed with both a full heart and a full belly. In the morning we were headed to Florence, more adventures to come.
Until next time,
