Assisi - Chiesa Nuova, Piazza del Comune, and the Hotel

When we got back from the Hermitage we parked back at our hotel so we could finish sightseeing in Assisi. We walked down to Chiesa Nuova which is the site of St. Francis's birth and his family home. In 1613, the Spanish Vicar General of the Franciscans was saddened when he saw the original home of St. Francis falling apart. With the help of the Spanish Embassy in Rome and generous gifts from Spain, he was able to buy the house. The church was then built over this site. The high altar was set over the room of St. Francis. 

Chiesa Nuova

The children love lighting candles for loved ones and special intentions

Looking at the Main Altar

This was the stairwell in which Francis was imprisoned by his father because he was upset that he was choosing a life of poverty. It is here that Francis decided to answer the divine call and renunciate wordly goods. 

The left brown door is the entrance into Francis's family home

Steps outside the family home

Going down the family's textile warehouse 

Entrance to the family textile shop

This is where the shop was and the big block of stone is what they used to cut the fabrics on

Stained glass window in the back of the church

Statues of Francis's parents

We walked around Assisi for awhile and then stopped for lunch at a little pizzeria. L rode the carousel which was in the piazza outside of St. Clare's Church. 

We ate lunch in this rustic little pizzeria

L with her favorite, "Nutella"

I noticed that there were nativity crèches sold in almost every single store in Assisi. It was not until I pulled out my guide book that said, St. Francis made the first nativity scene to help teach the Christmas message. How did I not notice this before on previous trips to Assisi. We are always learning something new. I did have to buy a cute wooden set of the holy family for Christmas. It was so hard to choose because they literally have hundreds of sets all different sizes in Assisi. I am sure at Christmas the town looks beautiful!

Lots of Nativity Sets

We walked to the Piazza del Comune which is one of the main squares in Assisi. 

Piazza del Comune

The Temple of Minerva is located in this piazza. This was built by the Romans in the 1st century BC. In ancient times, the stairs went down about twice as far as they do now. The main drag has obviously been filled over time. The Church of Santa Maria sopra ("over") Minerva was added in the 9th century. Around the altar are the original Roman temple floor stones and you can even see the drains for the bloody sacrifices that took place here. 

Temple of Minerva

another little shrine on the outside of a building 

This car is the perfect size for these little streets!

We had to go back to the hotel for some reason...I can't remember why. It might have been to bring our laundry back to our room. Remember how we had no washing machine in Rome...so we found a laundry mat that would wash and dry our clothes right away. It was great because we just dropped off a bag of clothes and we picked it up 8 hours later! 

Here are some pictures of our hotel in Assisi. I just had to share!

The main building is on the right side where we had our breakfast and they had a little
bar. We did use the bar the first night after the children went to bed. Joe and I
got drinks and we sat outside on the terrace. 

The views were incredible from the hotel. Our room was located down the stairs under
the patio. We got a family room so we had our own area which was nice. 

The parking lot was nice too with all the olive trees in it...but when
this lot was full it was hard to park your car.

The view from our hotel room