Below the hill of Assisi, on the plain, stands a church that was built to cover a tiny one. The Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, a huge baroque building from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, has at its centre the Porziuncola, a small chapel of stone, only a few metres long, where Francis of Assisi received his first followers and founded the Franciscan order in the early thirteenth century. He died in a hut beside it in 1226, and the chapel was so precious that the basilica was raised over it, like a case around a jewel.
Behind the church, a rose garden is said to grow thornless roses, which, according to legend, sprang from the thorns on which Francis rolled to resist temptation. You can see the roses in May and June, and the garden also holds a small museum. The town around the basilica, Santa Maria degli Angeli, has about seven and a half thousand people, with cafes and shops, and it is a practical base for visiting Assisi, whose medieval centre is listed by UNESCO.
Umbria is called the green heart of Italy, and the ride around it shows why. The roads from here lead through olive groves and vineyards, past hill towns of pink and white stone, with the long ridge of Monte Subasio behind. The afternoon run to the Tempietto del Clitunno, a small early medieval chapel beside a spring, passes through Spello and Foligno, with soft hills and cypress lines. Traffic is moderate, the surface is generally good, and the bends are gentle, though mornings can be foggy in autumn.
Fuel and food are easy, with petrol stations near the main road and plenty of bars, and the nearby town of Bastia Umbra, with about eighteen thousand people, has supermarkets. Try a plate of strangozzi pasta with truffle, or porchetta in a roll, and a glass of Sagrantino. Visit the basilica quietly, since it is a place of pilgrimage, and cover your shoulders and knees. The light on the hills in late afternoon is lovely.