Rome Pilgrimage Day 4: Subiaco

Another travel day for us.  We started with the Basilica of Mary of the Angels in lower Assisi.  This church is the inspiration for the city name Los Angeles.  Since it is Epiphany here in Italy, a major holiday, they were having Mass so we could not see everything.  The major attraction is a chapel built by St. Francis in the middle of the church.  We also walked by a rose garden where the plants do not have thorns (it’s a Francis story).  They also had a few halls full of Nativity Scenes from all over the world.  One from France was huge and especially nice.

This is part of the French scene

After this we were on our way to Subiaco, outside of Rome.  So our focus transferred from the 13^th century to the 5^th century and St. Benedict.  Subiaco is where he went to get away from Rome and started his first monastery.  Along the way we drove through some amazing Italian countryside.  It’s up in the Apennines, so close to the monastery we drove on steep mountain roads that were “two lanes” in name only.  Our bus driver was a miracle worker.

I could have taken thousands of pictures similar to this of the beautiful landscape

We actually saw two monasteries here.  The first was a bit bland, to be honest.  The coolest part was a 1000 year old bell tower.  Also, interestingly, some of the materials used to build this came from a villa that Emperor Nero had built (the ruins remain on the side of the road on the way to the monastery).

A cloister from the 17th century made to look like Renaissance

Medieval cloister

The chapel

The second monastery was further up and built into the mountain.  Actually, it was built over the site where Benedict lived in a cave for three years.  This was more beautiful, in my opinion, including many frescoes from many centuries ago.  Probably the most interesting for me was a Crucifixion scene painted in the 13^th century.  In it, curiously, you see no Roman soldiers.  Instead, they are replaced by Muslim soldiers.  Yes, this was painted during the Crusades.  After the tour, we were able to have Mass in one of the chapels there.  Quite the experience!  We stopped in the shop and, at the recommendation of our tour guide, I picked up some strawberry gummy candies and a chocolate bar with peanuts made by the monks.  Yummy!

Probably my favorite view, down the valley

Mr goat hanging out

Muslim soldiers on the bottom right

Location of Benedict's cave

Chapel where we had Mass

We finally made our way to the hotel in Rome before a late (for us) dinner.  Lots of good pasta today.  Tomorrow, we have a relatively free day in Rome.  Hoping to see some cool sites!