With so much of the world's attention focused this week on the new Pope in Rome, many eyes are now also looking at a small hill town in Italy famous as the home of one of Italy's great saints and namesake of the new Pope, Francis I. Saint Francis of Assisi is the Patron saint of Italy and of all those who down through the centuries have tried to live a life of poverty in the world, while trying at the same time to proclaim the Christian Gospel. Saint Francis was born eight hundred years ago in this beautiful little town in the region of Umbria. Everything about the town today revolves around its most famous son. Assisi is one of the most delightful towns in the world. Basking in the Italian sunshine, its maze of cobbled mediaeval streets always leads you back to one place, the Basilica of Saint Francis, where the saint is buried. The town is, in fact, so beautiful that the Basilica and the urban fabric of the town itself have been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. No one with time to spare can visit Italy and not visit Assisi. Its visitors can be grouped into two types: those who are there for the Art and those who are there to pray. And for both groups there is much to occupy their time. Just two years after his death, Francis of Assisi was declared a saint in 1228 and the Basilica of Saint Francis was completed twenty five years later. It is a magnificent building, adorned with some of Europe's finest frescoes attributed to the school of Giotto. Divided into two levels, the Upper Basilica is the more grand. It is here that the frescoes, or wall paintings, show scenes from the life of Saint Francis, including the legend of him famously preaching to an audience of birds. It was once thought that these splendid paintings were by Giotto himself, but it is now believed they are by artists of the circle of Pietro Cavallini of Rome. The more prayerful Lower Basilica, which contains the tomb of the saint, has frescoes by Giotto and Cimabue illustrating the religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. It is here that at any time of the day you will find scores of pilgrims wanting to pray silently and to reflect on the life of the simple Saint Francis, the troubadour of God's love who became so famous by his cheerful life of poverty and service of the poor and sick that even the Pope listened to him. In one of his most beautiful prayers, he referred to the sun and the moon as his brother and his sister, calling upon all people to cherish the gift of God's Creation. The town was hit by two devastating earthquakes in 1997 and the Basilica of Saint Francis suffered terrible damage, as well as the deaths of four people who were inside the church. So important was this place as a part of Italy's national heritage that it had been restored within two years. In a town so full of associations with the saint, two other churches are of particular note. The first is the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, built over the tiny little cell where Francis died, and the other is the church of San Damiano, where he is alleged to have received a vision telling him to repair the church. Francis at first thought that this divine instruction was literally to rebuild the crumbling structure, but he later came to believe that it was his calling to help rejuvenate and rebuild the Catholic Church itself. The church is now one of the gems of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, which he founded. It is not only places associated with Saint Francis, though, that attract the visitors attention. The Cathedral of San Rufino, for example, probably has one of the most splendid facades in the town. Dating from 1140, the cathedral not only contains the remains of Rufinus, an earlier saint from Assisi, but also the baptismal font in which Francis was baptised, as well as his co-worker Saint Clare and the Emperor Frederick II. Before you are quite exhausted with all the religious sites there is still one more place to visit. This is the town's major castle, the Rocca Magghiore which is perched high on a promontory. The views from here over the town and across the plain below are quite stunning. Finally, aside from all the art and the magnificent churches it is pleasant just to walk around Assisi's tiny streets, maybe stopping for lunch in one of the many small restaurants or buying souvenirs from the many small shops. So, as the humble new Pope Francis I makes his mark on the Catholic Church and on the world one wonders how soon it will be before he makes a visit to the town of his patron. It is then only a matter of time before more and more people turn their attention to Saint Francis of Assisi and the beautiful town he came from. If you have the ability to do so, you would be advised to get there quickly before the secret gets out and the town becomes even better known. If you do so, you will surely be touched by the unseen presence of Saint Francis and the spirit of faith and service which is central to Islam and Christianity. British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, teaches at Al-Azhar University and is the author of nine books about Islam. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com, join him on Facebook at Idris Tawfiq Page and listen to his Radio Show, “A Life in Question," on Sundays at 11pm on Radio Cairo 95.4 FM.
