Two of Umbria’smost important towns are on today’s itinerary, Perugia and Assisi. Like so manyhill towns, Perugia was an Etruscan city, but what you will see today owes moreto the medieval period and as such is a delight to explore, with attractivenarrow streets opening onto impressive squares and of course, beautifulchurches. The surrounding countryside is most attractive too and you will visitsome local farms and taste some of the delicious foods they produce. You willthen continue to Assisi, town of St. Francis and Italy’s most visited shrine,after Rome. Of course the highlight of the day will be the Basilica di SanFrancesco but the town itself has some great medieval architecture. TheBasilica was started very soon after the death of St. Francis and dates from1228. Divided into an upper and a lower section, it ranks as a turning point inWestern art, moving from the period of stylised Byzantine art to a morehumanist narrative. The frescoes by Giotto and Cimabue are quite breath-taking.Damage from the earthquake of 1997 was fully repaired by 1999 and you will becompletely unaware of it.
