A classic

‘A classic walk, rich in history, along Umbria’s most famous hilltop towns’. That is how this walk was described in the book “The Classic Walks in Western Europe”. So we are going to tick this one off.

The actual walk lasts four days. However, on two of them, it  goes along the roads, a bit dull and probably spoilt by cars, so we are only going walk two days. Today, we will walk from Assisi to Spello, 14kms, estimated time, 7hrs, as it is mainly on hills. From Spello, we will a get train back to Foligno, where we left Dora this morning.

We haven’t really talked about what all the fuss is about regarding hilltop towns in Italy. They were originally built for defensive purposes. These towns have been transformed over the centuries but it was mainly in the Renaissance period when wealthy nobles and the catholic church, with nothing better to do with their money, commissioned expensive buildings such as palaces, cathedrals and convents. Many of these towns experienced a heavy emigration of young people to the big city. So these places survive today mainly on tourism. The investment of the catholic church has paid off over the years.

Another interesting point; seismologists have studied the architectural techniques of these towns for years as their ancient and heavily-built houses have survived earthquakes that modern buildings don’t survive.

Modern building are not designed to survive, but they are designed not to collapse. It is the collapse that kills lots of people. Usually, however, the building may still be beyond repair and may have to be demolished, but at least no one was killed. GDR

Anyway, we have done the mandatory tour around Assisi. It has taken longer than we expected, we underestimated it was a small town. So we eventually start the walk at 11.45. We need to keep an eye on the time, since we want to get the train back to Foligno at 18.30.

The walk starts at the edge of the town. Look for Porta Cappuccini on the Via Eremo. Turn left and you will get immediately into woods.

12.25, we find the first signs, pointing to different routes. We follow number 50. The estimated time on the sign, 4.50 hours. Weird, the estimated time on our book, 7 hours Perhaps they must have included the visit around Assisi. In that case, we don’t need to worry much about train times.

The path goes up, fairly steep. It is hot and sticky. and it is only March. It is quite tough to climb up when it is so hot. Maybe we have been driving for quite a few days and our legs are not used to the exercise . Never mind the tiredness, we are so happy we are back outdoors!

As we go up, the views are stunning. Although hot and still very hazy.

The path starts to level off and we meet the Assisi/Monte Subasio road at 12.45. A few Italians have driven up and are having lunch happily at picnic tables by the road.

No lunch for us; not a nice spot and too early. We cross the road and turn right.

Fifteen minutes later, we come across a fork. Our route continues up left. On the right, there is sanctuary. Apparently it is a hermitage, the place where San Francisco de Assisi and his followers used to come here for an occasional retreat. We go and have a look.

This place has turned into a chapel and a place for pilgrims. Do you think we could get away with one of them? I don’t think so. We don’t carry proper stupidly long and thick wooden sticks that may cause you blisters in your fingers.

I keep thinking about these guys’ lifestyle. They didn’t used to work. How did they earning their living if there was no welfare state at the time? Apparently, of other people ‘givings’.

Now, economically, this doesn’t work. You produce something, with value and you get paid for it. No one is going to give you something for nothing, not even in the name of god.

It is also quite a greedy attitude: “I am doing good so that god can save you, so I deserve to be subsidized. You won’t see the results of my actions now, only when you die. But trust me, it will all be worth it”.

We enter the chapel. Narrow corridors, with a few mini chapels on either side. Suddenly, a woman sitting in front of S Francisco’s image, very still. Is she alive? How long has she been here for? She may be in trance. It is so quiet that we fear we might disturb her. We get out quick.

And of course, more of St Francisco’s images.

It is 13.15. We retrace our steps to pick up our path. The path leave the road turning narrow and steep.

‘El robameriendas’. The last time we saw this flower was in Pico Aneto, back in October. Apparently, this type of flower is the last one to die before winter. It may be that it is also the first one to be born in early Spring, or perhaps this particular one has never died, as the weather is so mild in Italy.

We continue to walk though woods. The snow which fell over the last few weeks has not yet melted. However, it is so warm, we can still walk in T-Shirts and feel no cold. A bit of an abstract image.

We finally leave the woods. The landscape offers stunning views of the surrounding hills. The path continues relentlessly steep.

14.00 and we get to the refuge. It looks abandoned. As we enter we can see it has been used recently. The refuge has also beds, a kitchen and a fireplace.

I find it very odd coming across a refuge with so many facilities in this place. Refuges are normally built up in the mountains, halfway through long routes that last for days, so people can stay overnight. Here, we  are not very high (1,000m) and most of routes are one day long.

Anyway, we take a couple of chairs and sit outside to have our lunch. Today, we have, for a change, ‘insalata capricchiosa’, a typical Italian salad which we have never tried  before. We accompanied it with ‘prosciutto crudo’ and doughy ‘focaccia’. Very, very nice lunch indeed.

We have company. A lonely horse in the distance. He looks young and frisky. I don’t trust him. He may just want to pass or he may want our lunch. Gary starts making noises. He eventually gallops downhill.

He is a caricature of a horse, with his big long blonde mane, like ones young girls play hairdresser on. His movements are also cartoon like as he prances around the hillside. GDR

14.30, time to move on. We pass the refuge and continue to go upwards towards the highest point of the trek: Monte Subasio. On the way, more horses in the distance. These ones look a bit calmer, minding their own business.

Cross roads, directions to four of the many different routes around this area. Our route continues onwards. However, our guide suggests a detour to climb Monte Subasio, the highest point of the trek. We can see it from here. We climb straight up, the shortest route but the steepest.

The climb is leaving us out of breath. Too steep a path to walk on after lunch.

The views back to Assisi are stunning.

15.30 and we have reached the top. We have been walking three and a half hours and we must be just under half way. We better press on if we want to get the 18.30 train back to Foligno.

The landscape vast, lonely, bare. Walking around here feels so relaxing.

We pass an inactive crater. Impressive.

The path around it is quite narrow. Careful not to slip. There is no stop until you get to the bottom.

The path drops down to the valley. Our walking guide warns that the path is difficult to find and that we should pass a fountain. None of it is true. The path is very obvious. No signs of the fountain yet. Only more horses. We are a bit confused.

After 45 minutes, we find the fountain. We were getting quite worried.It would have been helpful if our guide could had given us an estimated time of how long it would take to get here.

From here, only another hour to Spello. The path turns into a track. Views of the valley where the town sits appear in the distance.

We arrive at Spello at 17.30. With an hour to spare before our train. Plenty of time to wander around the town and have a drink.

A very beautiful town indeed. An overview from the top, spectacular.

Under its wall.

Narrow streets, houses joined by arches, weird, old structures.

Cute little corners, two different types of houses from different eras. Lots of plant pots around, adding freshness and colour.

Every where I turn there is a cuter little corner. I can’t stop photographing them.

Some of the houses look abandoned, as they are old and decrepit. You won’t see scuzzy areas like this in Assisi. This village looks a bit more real, a bit more honest.

Weird structures to support the houses from falling. I have never seen this technique before.

They were doing some work to all the services hidden from view, buried in the ground. It is impressive to see the tangle of pipes; sewer, gas, and water. The cables; Electricity, phone and data that lies hidden beneath our feet. I have never understood why, when such work is done, they don’t just put in a large concrete linear chamber, with pull up access slabs. All the services could be laid in neatly and you wouldn’t have to dig up the road in the future every time you need to add or amend something, just pull up a few slabs. Much too sensible, and probably no one can work out a financial mechanism for each of the utility companies to pay there share. Maybe a separate company puts the duct in and rents out the space to the utilities! GDR

A tower with an olive tree at the top? Very inconvenient at harvest time.

We get to the train station, buy our tickets and have a drink in the nearest bar whilst waiting for our train. We should be with Dora at 19.00.

Our next destination: Spoleto, from where we would get the train to Campello and walk back to Dora.

A very enjoyable walking day indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SM