Day Eight.
Assissi, Italy.
Well, we made it to Assisi and it was worth the trip. The city is on this mountain top, originally built to protect The Pope, cause you know, that guy had some serious power around these parts back in the day. Assisi definitely has an "elitist" feel as you enter massive doors heading up the hill to it's shops and various sites. Seriously, there are huge doors which can be closed to make the city off limits. Our tour guide mentioned the doors were built to keep the poor out of the city as Assisi was only available to the rich and to those whom The Pope wanted in the city. Go figure, right?
Our tour guide also walked us up the massive hill that is the city and again, we visited a few churches and "Basilicas" that are well-known on the hill. It was this trip which really spurred the wheels in my head from mildly turning in curiosity to a full onslaught of "hold the phone here".
Our tour guide walked us through the churches where she emphasized St. Francis and his "mighty power" and also classified and called him "a second Jesus" to our group. I'll be honest, the statement and tour bothered me as it really brought to light many of the glaring issues of the Roman Catholic denomination. Many of us in our group had several questions regarding St. Francis and a few others regarding a painting that seemed to have been removed in comparison to the others which remained. The tour guide - a native of Assisi - declined to answer the question. Just odd.
The "second Jesus" stuff with St. Francis really bothered my, and in some ways made me feel uncomfortable. As far as I'm concerned, no one has come close to the Son of God.
The "second Jesus" stuff with St. Francis really bothered my, and in some ways made me feel uncomfortable. As far as I'm concerned, no one has come close to the Son of God.
But honestly, without getting any further into a debate on faith and theology, much of this trip has really opened your eyes on the "value" of "churches" here in Italy. Many of them, originally pagan institutions as mentioned by our tour guides, are still standing. They are architectural gems, but the main focus of them seemed to be tourism driven. I just have a hard time struggling to get my mind around the fact that if Jesus were to return, he wouldn't be happy with churches and paintings that stand for nothing more than aesthetics and along with other idolatry that is clearly excessive. Again, just being honest and bloggin'
Nonetheless, what Assisi does offer is an absolutely stunning hillside view over green pastures of Italy. Our hotel room had a balcony overlooking this view and it was the best part of the city.
Here are some photos from today. Click to enlarge them.
Here are some photos from today. Click to enlarge them.
Tomorrow, we continue our descent back to the southern region of Italy with a stop in Pompei, before making our way via boat over to Capri for the night.