Umbria - Italy - page 213

The “Poor Clares” & the Patron Saint of TV
In a life that paralleled that of St. Francis, Clare was born in Assisi in
1194, and walked away from her family fortune to preach a life of poverty.
From age 17, she was a close follower of Francis, cutting off her long blond
hair as a symbol of her rejection of the material world. Locks of her hair
are said to be on display at Assisi's Church of St. Chiara (Piazza Santa
Chiara; free admission; 7am-noon and 2-6:45pm), alongside other relics
in the Oratorio Del Crocifisso room, including the crucifix that talked to
St. Francis. The church also houses her body in its garishly decorated
crypt. The upper church is decorated sparingly, not so much at the behest
of Clare but because a later bishop erased most of the frescoes to keep
tourists away.
St. Clare founded the order of the Poor Clares for women whose lives
were to be occupied with work and prayer, penance, and contemplation.
The Pope, in 1215, approved the right of the Poor Clares to live solely on
alms, without any personal property.
Despite Clare's rejection of the material world, and her commitment to
a quiet life of spiritual contemplation, Pope Pius XII declared her the
patron saint of television in 1958. Apparently when St. Clare was on her
death bed, too sick to attend Mass, the performance of the last rites were
projected on a wall in front of her, complete with live audio. And thus,
every August 11, on St. Clare's feast day, TV writers, workers, and watch-
ers are to send a prayer her way.

away from the tourist hordes. The crypt is what you'll want to visit here, particu-
larly the side room that features the best Franciscan diorama in all Christendom.
See a miniature electric fisherman cast his reel, and the wood-chopper chop, in a
7.5m-long (25-ft.) medieval town filled with plastic sheep. Other rooms in the
crypt museum include a random assortment of rotating modern-art exhibits,
Roman artifacts, and a Salvador Dalí lithograph.
Towering above the town is Rocca Maggiore

( % 075-815292; daily
10am-sunset), the fortress built by Cardinal Albornaz to extend his control over
Umbrian towns in the 1360s. While most of the Rocca still remains shut due to
earthquake damage, for € 2 you can enter and climb two of its towers. Between the
thick stone walls in a hallway lit only by narrow slits, try imagining how terrify-
ing it must have been to defend the castle during a siege from this claustrophobic
room. Then ascend to the roof for an unmatched 360-degree view of the majesty
of the Umbrian countryside and the town of Assisi.
When the famed German writer Goethe visited Assisi in the 1780s, he passed
up the Basilica “with great distaste,” and focused instead on the Temple of
Minerva

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(daily 7:15am-noon and 2-7pm) in the main Piazza del Comune. The
1st-century Roman temple is well preserved, with its Corinthian columns and
original paving stones, and provides a window into Assisi's ancient past. However,