Itinéraires conseillés en Assisi Italie

Franciscan Path

L'itinéraire reparcourt le trajet de 46km que Saint François a suivi pour la première fois en 1206 après Jésus-Christ, allant d’Assise à Gubbio, et qu’ensuite le Saint suivra pour de longs trajets chaque fois qu’il voudra rejoindre le Sanctuaire de la Verna.
D’Assise à Pieve San Nicolò
En partant de l’actuelle Porte San Giacomo d’Assise, on se dirige vers Pieve San Nicolò et de là on continue vers Valfabbrica, jusqu’à la localité appelée "Il Pioppo". La construction de la petite église paroissiale de Pieve San Nicolò, une structure architectonique très simple à nef unique et avec clocher à voile, remonte au début du XVII siècle. Les ruines de quelques murs périmétraux font penser à une organisation typique des fortifications à implantation centrale, avec la tour de vue située au milieu de l’édifice; malheureusement actuellement il ne reste aucune trace ni des trois portes ni de la tour. De Pieve San Nicolò à Valfabbrica
Aux portes du village fortifié de Valfabbrica, la localité appelée "il Pioppo" signale la frontière entre les bois et les champs cultivés. Les légendes veulent que, pendant le voyage, Saint François ait trouvé refuge dans le monastère bénédictin voisin, peut-être celui de Valfabbrica. Aujourd’hui la façade principale de l'antique abbaye conserve seulement la rosace centrale et trois monophores sur les côtés, alors que la structure absidale originale a complètement été perdue. De Valfabbrica à Coccorano
A partir de Valfabbrica on continue en direction de Gubbio, en passant le Chiascio et en remontant la route sous Coccorano. Certains biographes racontent que sur cette route le frère fût victime d’une aggression de la part d’un groupe de brigando et que suite à cela il demanda asile aux habitants du lieu. On suppose, sans en avoir la certitude, que le frère trouva refuge auprès du château voisin de Coccorano, propriété de la famille Bigazzini de Gubbio et amie du saint aux temps de ses richesses terriennes. Ce château-fort du XI siècle, avec les fortifications de Biscina et Giomici, se dresse en protecteur de la vallée du Chiascio. Si d’un côté la grande tour carrée située sur la gauche de l’arche d’entrée est encore visible, de l’autre, de l’église qui était à l’origine inclue dans l’enceinte de mur ne restent des traces que dans l’édifice reconstruit à quelques pas du château. De Coccorano à Biscina
On continue en direction de Vallingegno, en passant le château de Biscina, à l’époque frontière entre les communes de Gubbio et de Valfabbrica et lieu fondamental pour le contrôle stratégique – militaire, grâce à sa position géographique. Biscina, déjà au temps de Saint Franois, elle fût soumise à de nombreuses dominations, qui déterminèrent dans ses structures fortifiées des interventions continuelles et des restaurations. L’allure générale du château résulte assez irrégulière, justement à cause des additions postérieures qui souvent n’ont pas respecté les alignements pré-existents. Le côté nord de la structure est constitué de deux tours qui protègent l’entrée de la cours, la première à droite est la plus imporante, encore intacte et couronnée par des merles guelphes, alors que de la seconde, à gauche, reste bien peu de choses. De Biscina à Vallingegno
Le long de la route on peut admirer des monuments clés pour les Franciscains, tels que l’église de Caprignone, l'Abbaye de Vallingegno et l'Hermitage de Saint Pierre en Vigneto, tous construits sur les structures païennes existantes. De Vallingegno à Fassia
Presqu’à la fin du trajet, on peut rejoindre ces lieux, où surgirent deux hôpitaux: Sainte Marie de Fonte Salice ou Montebaroncello et Sainte Marie Madeleine de Fassia. Lieux de douleur où l’on recherchait assistance et soin surtout pour les lépreux. De Fassia à Gubbio
Désormais en vue de Gubbio, se trouvait la léproserie de Saint Lazzaro; aux alentours de 1240 après Jésus-Christ furent contruites l’église et le couvent de Saint François, même si au départ les Franciscains s’étaient établis dans la petite église de Sainte Marie de la Victoire - ou Vittorina.

From Assisi to Perugia – The Charm of Sublime

Assisi is the shrine of Umbria’s artand spirituality: birthplace ofSaint Francis and Saint Clare, itsterritory is still landmarked by their livingmemories. In our journey, we will alsoexperience the ancient Umbrian traditionsof gastronomy and handicraft.

The Basilicas of Saint Claire and Saint Francis. Our trip starts from the Basilica di SantaChiara. In one of the chapels, there is thecross originally put in the church of SanDamiano, which, according to the tradition,spoke to Saint Francis in 1205, invitinghim to “repair God’s home”. The majestic Basilica di San Francesco,started in 1228, two years after the Saint’sdeath, the day after Pope Gregory IXproclaimed him Saint, is actually madeup of two basilicas, one upon the other.The lower and most ancient one (BasilicaInferiore) is not simply a vault, but rathera superb resting place for Saint Francis’sbody. The Upper Basilica is famous for itsfrescoes, with stories from the Old andNew Testament, by Cimabue, and fromthe life of Saint Francis, by Giotto. The frescoes draw a parallel betweenChrist’s and Saint Francis’s lives. Cimabueexecuted the paintings of the transept andthe apse. His works are one of the firstattempts to free figurative art from therigidity of Byzantine art, later fulfilled byhis pupil Giotto.Giotto was able to bring the divine nearerto the human, inserting the figures into arealistic space, where the characters movelike Middle Ages men did into their cities:Francis is represented above all as a man,not only as a saint.+

Franciscan Places outside the walls. The Eremo delle Carceri can be reached both on foot (the trip is about 3 miles long)and by car, in about 20 minutes (via delleFonti del Moiano, Largo Properzio, viaUmberto I, via Santuario delle Carceri). Itwas originally a natural cave, where SaintFrancis dwelled between 1205 and 1206.Today, it is enclosed in a monastery, builtby Saint Bernardino of Siena in 1400, andcompletely surrounded by the woods ofMount Subasio. In 15 minutes, we reach the church of San Damiano (towards via Santuariodelle Carceri, viale Giovanni XXIII, viaUmberto I, via Valentin Muller, localitàSan Rufino Campagna), where Francisfirst heard God’s voice and, accordingto the tradition, wrote his Cantico delleCreature.Few more than a mile from San Damiano,the “Sacro Tugurio” (“Holy Shack”)in Rivotorto (località San RufinoCampagna, via Frate Fuoco, via SorellaLuna, via Francesca, via della Regola) wasFrancis’s first shelter, and is now containedinto a XIX century’s sanctuary.Our last stop is the Basilica of SantaMaria degli Angeli (via Francesca, vialePatrono d’Italia, via Los Angeles), builtin XVI and XVII century to preserve thePorziuncola, the Church which Francisrestored and which became his favouriteplace for prayer and retirement. Here hepassed on in 1226. +

Montelabate, Torgiano and Deruta. The Abbey of Montelabate, also knownas Santa Maria di Valdiponte (viaGiuseppe Emili, SS75, Bastia Umbra,Collestrada, SS33bis verso Ravenna/Ancona, Lidarno, Ponte Felcino, Bosco,Ponte Pattoli, Casa del Diavolo, stradadel Piccione, strada Montelabate), waserected in the IX or X century, in a severeRomanesque-Gothic style. It is one of themost important sacred building in Umbria. The journey from Montelabate to Torgianolasts about 30 minutes (strada del Piccione SP 246, Casa del Diavolo, stradaTiberina Nord, Bosco, SS 3 bis, Collestrada,il Sardo, SP 403 Torgiano – San Martinoin Campo). This small but lovely town isbuilt upon a hill, extraordinary rich inolive groves and vineyards. Wine and oliveoil are still its main produces and its mostjealously guarded heritages. Deruta, 6miles from Torgiano (SP403 verso viaMario Angeloni, E45 verso Casaccia,Pontenuovo, Deruta), hosts more than 200factories and workshops, specialized inthe production of majolica. The traditiondates back to the Middle Ages and is documentedin a museum (Museo Regionaledella Ceramica) and a library. A 12 miles’trip towards North (E45 towards PonteNuovo) brings us to Perugia.+

From Assisi to Cannara

Leaving Assisi, descend in direction of the plain and after having passed through the quarter of Santa Maria degli Angeli you'll arrive at Bastia Umbra.
Following the course of the Chiascio river passing through the towns of S. Lorenzo and Costano, in ascent you'll reach the town of Bettona; from there, pass through the quarter of Passaggio and after a short time you'll arrive at Cannara.

From Gubbio to Assisi - The mystical charms of mountain hermitages

From Gubbio to Assisi, through the National Park of Monte Cucco, Colfiorio plateau and the Park of Mount Subasio. Majestic landscapes, ancient abbeys, hermitages, lost in the silence of inaccessible places. Here, we come across two art cities, Gubbio and Spello, and finally rest in Assisi.

Elegance and Mysticism. Gubbio looks like a huge Nativity scene, with its city walls clutched to the rock of Mount Ingino, where the Middle Ages meet the elegance of Reinassance and Baroque. The maze of Gubbio’s alleys resembles a travel backwards in history: Palazzo del Capitolo dei Canonici, Palazzo del Bargello, the Cathedral, Palazzo Ducale, up to the lovely Piazza Grande, which offers one of the widest and most charming landscapes in the whole Umbria. Here, Palazzo Pretorio faces the imposing Palazzo dei Consoli (inside the latter palace, the City Museum houses the Iguvine Tables, one of the most important testimonies of the ancient Umbrian language). Via Sant’Ubaldo allows to reach the woods of Mount Ingino, up to the Basilica of Saint Ubaldo, 827 meters above sea level. The Basilica hosts the “ceri” (literally: tapers), three wooden artifacts which are taken down to town on the first Sunday of May, and then back to the Basilica on the 15th of May, after a pictoresque feast dedicated to Saint Ubaldo.+

The ermitages of Monte Cucco. Heading North from Gubbio, we cross the Appennini towards Scheggia and Pascelupo (SS 298 towards via Giove Pennino, frazione Villamagna, frazione Sant’Angelo dopo Serra, località Fornace). Gola del Bottaccione is a deep ravine between Mount Ingino and Mount Foce, interesting both for its Medieval weir and for its rocks so rich in iridium to have generated the hypothesis of a huge meteorite’s impact, taking place some 65 millions years ago. Nearby, a Medieval aqueduct and the Hermitage of San Ambrosio, on Monte Calvo. Following SS289, we enter the Regional Park of Monte Cucco, including ancient hermitages like San Girolamo, Ss. Emiliano e Bartolomeo in Congiuntoli, Santa Maria di Sitria and the benedictine abbey of Sant’Andrea. All of them deserve a visit, to admire their mystical fascination, their Romanesque architecture, and the surrounding natural landscapes.+

The regional Park of Colfiorito. Our trip continues towards South (SS3 towards Fossato di Vico, Gualdo Tadino, Nocera Umbra), leading us to the Regional Park of Colfiorito: a 850 acres plateau, 250 of which taken up by a marshland, abounding in wildlife. Colfiorito is also famous for its typical produces (lentils, red potatoes, chick peas, grass peas, spelt), often sold by local farmers, directly along the roads. About 15 miles from Colfiorito (SS77 towards località Casette di Cupigliolo, then towards frazione Pisenti, Collelungo, Capodaqua, Pieve Fanonica, Valtopina), Collepino is a tiny village, belonging to the Park of Mount Subasio and perfectly preserved with its scenic “piazzetta”.+

Spello: art, religion and gastronomy. Now we go down for 4 miles towards Spello (via Subasio), which stands on the top of a hill, at the feet of Mount Subasio. In the well-preserved Medieval walls, four gates and a Roman arch are still the only accesses to the center. The main monument is the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, with the extraordinary Cappella Baglioni, frescoed by Pinturicchio. The most typical event in Spello is the “infiorata”, taking place during the feast of Corpus Christi, when streets are embellished by pictures, entirely composed by flowers laid upon the pavement. Another occasion for visiting Spello is the festival dedicated to its most renown produce, olive oil: “L’Oro di Spello” (at the beginning of December). After visiting the Museo Emilio Greco (c/o Palazzo Comunale | piazza della Repubblica), we end our trip in Porta dell’Arce, with its panoramic terrace, open towards the Umbrian countryside at sunset. The nearby Villa Fidelia is a fine XIX century building with a wide park, now hosting concerts and art exhibitions. Assis can be reached through SS75.+