Years ago we had one of those magical Italian lunches that lock themselves in the memory on the terrace restaurant of a hotel on Assisi's main square. It had been a scorchingly hot day but the terrace was shaded by large umbrellas and the sound of the water running in the fountain a few yards away gave an added sense of coolness and calm. The food was good if not fantastic and the bottle of Greco di Tufo the perfect compliment to a heavy mornings sightseeing. The hotel has now gone but the restaurant is still there and can be seen in the bottom photo - in winter it doesn't look nearly as magical as it did in our memory. The cathedral of San Rufino next door has now had the bulk of the restoration work completed and the facade is again revealed showing it's stunning Romanesque facade. To my mind the best in Umbria. We made the mistake of paying Euro 6 per head to visit the crypt which contains the saints 3rd century sarcophagus - it was not money well spent and should probably be missed unless you're really into foundations of early churches. On our way back we took the steep road down the mountain beyond the basilica - it's a different world there - the mountains rise up harsh and gaunt from the softness of the plain and there is no sign inn this wilderness of the dense habitation that has spread south from Perugia along the motorway.
Even at ten on a grey January morning Assisi was enjoying an influx of visitors. It must be impossible to live here in the height of the summer when it is inundated with the faithful and curious from every corner of the earth. We nearly bought a house on the outskirts of San Gimignano in Tuscany when we first moved to Italy but thought better of it when we saw just how crowded the place becomes in high season. Assisi must be similar.The heart of the town is one of those picture perfect combinations of civic and church coexistence which have only survived in Italy. Perhaps most stunning of all in this central area is the roman era temple of Minerva which now does service as a much restored and embelished church. Assisi also has some good restaurants of which more later.
Years ago we had one of those magical Italian lunches that lock themselves in the memory on the terrace restaurant of a hotel on Assisi's main square. It had been a scorchingly hot day but the terrace was shaded by large umbrellas and the sound of the water running in the fountain a few yards away gave an added sense of coolness and calm. The food was good if not fantastic and the bottle of Greco di Tufo the perfect compliment to a heavy mornings sightseeing. The hotel has now gone but the restaurant is still there and can be seen in the bottom photo - in winter it doesn't look nearly as magical as it did in our memory. The cathedral of San Rufino next door has now had the bulk of the restoration work completed and the facade is again revealed showing it's stunning Romanesque facade. To my mind the best in Umbria. We made the mistake of paying Euro 6 per head to visit the crypt which contains the saints 3rd century sarcophagus - it was not money well spent and should probably be missed unless you're really into foundations of early churches. On our way back we took the steep road down the mountain beyond the basilica - it's a different world there - the mountains rise up harsh and gaunt from the softness of the plain and there is no sign inn this wilderness of the dense habitation that has spread south from Perugia along the motorway.
