Orvieto and Assisi

On Thursday I took a day trip out of Rome to visit the towns of Oriveto and Assisi.

Oriveto is one of the oldest towns in Italy, and is mostly known for its wines (as it sits in Umbria--part of wine country). The town is actually a ways up as it sits on top of almost vertical cliffs. It is small and quaint, and it is the kind of place that makes you smile when you see it. After taking a ride up funicular (similar to a tram) the hill/cliffs to reach the top, you take a short bus ride to get to the town. When you step off the bus you are in a large piazza, and to your right you are greeted by an enormous church, that on the outside looks (to me) like no other kind of church I've seen before with the stripes on the outside.

Orvieto Cathedral

 

Ceiling above the altar at the front of the church

The stripes continue on the inside of the church as well

Organ

lots of frescoes

view of one of the small chapels off the side of the main center area of the church

View from the top of Orvieto, looking down.....

close up--see above picture, left hand side

vineyards 

 

The second part of the day took us to Assisi. It is a small town of only about 600 residents. Our guide said Assisi used to get about 6 million visitors a year, but since the new pope (who took the name of Francesco, from Assisi) visitors have increased to approximately 10 million a year. We visited the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli which is at the foothills of Assisi, which has several crypts inside. Then we went up into Assisi itself and made a visit to several of the different churches there. Something unique about Assisi that you might notice in the pictures is that all of the buildings are made of pink and white limestone.

The sad thing about the visits to these particular churches is that I was only able to take photos outside....no photography inside at all.

Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli

Arch leading into the town of Assisi

Church of Saint Clare of Assisi

backside of of Church of Saint Clare

Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi

back view of Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi church

A few buildings throughout Assisi