Our first day in Italy was spent in the town of Assisi about 2 hrs drive north of Rome. It's located in the beautiful Italian countryside with small towns or villages every 6-7 miles. These towns all had something in common: a walled town built near the top of a hill with a fortress and 2nd wall at the very top for it's citizens to retreat to if the town was being attacked.
Here is the fortress of Assisi. We didn't tour the fortress because we spent so much time in the little town. A man from this town in the 11th century renewed Christians by his humble, simple life of poverty and helping the poor. He later became known as St. Francis of Assisi.
Before he died in 1226, Francesco was already widely known for his message of peace. After his death, the community knew they needed to build a church large enough to hold all the visitors, and to the right was that church.
The fresco paintings on the inside are absolutely beautiful, and have survived for 800 years.
After touring the town and church, we walked off the main path to find an Italian restaurant filled with local residents. The dinner was a delicious 3 course meal with plenty of wine.
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