In 2007, our visit to Assisi concentrated on the Basilica, so we at least saw the main street on our walk from the parking lot; that remains in memory, but we didn't get away from the tourist core to explore the lovely hill town. That's what we now wanted to see, sketch, and photograph. As soon as we'd walked past the 1st cathedral, we turned up a narrow winding street. It got us what we wanted. Memories. Photos. Sketches. And a great lunch.
On our outward bound up hill meander from where we got off the bus, we were immediately reconnoitering places for a quiet lunch. We found one, but then in the course of wandering around and finally walking down to the piazza and having coffee, making a few drawings, and thinking about Assisi, it got misplaced. I couldn't recall the name, but I thought I could quickly find it. We wandered all over the hill trying to find it before the smells of good food lead us to it. Instead of being early, as I'd hoped, and getting a well-shaded outdoor table, it looked like we might have to look elsewhere. Our art mates generously squeezed us in at their table and we enjoyed a wonderful, convivial lunch totally away from the frantic pilgrims buying St Francis corkscrews while making their progress to the Basilica and the gelato.
One of my favorite stops in 2007 was the Tempio di Minerva (Santa Maria sopra Minerva), which is the facade of the Temple of Minerva serving a Catholic Church, plus it still has helpful interior features such as blood gutters to complement the Baroque flourishes in the the Catholic Church. The church was built in 1539 and renovated in Baroque style in the 17th century. It's a great mash up. It's just off the main piazza on the street that goes down to the Basilica. There's a photo of the base of one of the columns. In a preceding photo, you can see the facade behind the head of the lion in the fountain. I had to drop in again.
