Above Assisi

Assisi lies on the western slope of a big round mountain called Subasio. Subasio is pleasant like a Capuchin friar, with a fringe of forest below its grassy dome. 

On the eastern side of the mountain we can see a rural valley with a few farms, but mostly leafy forest. On the western side is the Val di Spoleto, now crisscrossed by highways and littered with factories.

 Saint Francis spent a lot of time on Subasio, putting distance between himself and the busy, materialistic life that had been planned for him. A timeless, natural world is still right up the slope from Assisi. On the summit of the mountain, a field of wild narcissus is in bloom.