Having crossed to the mainland we headed back up the road we had come down
earlier but then crossed over to the east coast near to the “heel” of
Italy. On the way we paid a short visit
to Locorotondo which like many towns in this part of Italy was built on a hill,
though in recent years it has been enlarged with buildings outside the lovely
old walled town.
The old town has houses and the odd palace with balconies,
narrow winding streets paved with stone, no traffic, no stray dogs, no rubbish
and hardly any people! Very peaceful!
A short distance further on is the strange town of Alberobello. There are over 1000 tiny houses, dating from
the 14th century, built with bee-hive shaped roofs. They are called trulli.
It is said that they are based on the tents of the nomadic
tribe that originally settled in the area.
Although some are still occupied as homes, many are now
souvenir shops catering for the thousands of tourists who visit each year. Many have symbols painted on the roofs to
bring good fortune and ward off evil.
From Alberobello we headed into the mountains and stayed a
couple of nights on simple “camper-stops” before reaching Assisi – the home of
St Francis.
It is a beautiful, walled hill town built of stone of
various shades blending together to give a pink-brown effect. This was his parents’ house.
St Francis’ presence is felt everywhere and there is a huge
basilica dedicated to him. In it are churches on two floors and the older, lower church has magnificent frescoes.
We couldn't help feeling that St Francis would be horrified
at the splendour of it as he lived very simply and asked that his followers
should refrain from all forms of ostentation in their places of worship!
We were staying on a site about a mile from the centre of
Assisi on the road to the Eremo delle Carceri – a hermitage built where St
Francis and others spent some time as hermits living in tiny caves.
By contrast with Assisi itself the Eremo delle Carceri is a
lovely peaceful place hidden in the forest high up a hill.
There is an Anglican Church in Assisi so we were able to
share in the worship on Good Friday and on Easter Day when we also joined the
congregation for lunch afterwards.
Our next night was spent on a site right on the shore of
Lake Trasimeno – this, the view from our van …
… on the way to Siena and Florence.
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