On The Road With Francis Of Assisi (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
The basilica’s enormous size and neo-Baroque architecture, with all its attendant swirls and curls (not to mention the recorded organ music broadcast outdoors over loudspeakers), prompts adjectives like “kitsch” or “grotesque.” Even the official Assisi tourist map describes the basilica as “grandiose,” while the less politic Rough Guide declares it a “majestically uninspiring pile.” Steeped as we are in the message of poverty and simplicity that Francis both preached and lived, we find it almost impossible to comprehend how such an overblown edifice could have been built to shelter the little Porziuncola, the second, and most important, church Francis restored. The domed basilica is visible for miles by day and is just as prominent at night: the three-story-high gilded bronze replica of the Virgin Mary on its façade is crowned with a halo of bright electric lightbulbs. Inside this architectural sand castle run amok is a replica of the tiny, decrepit chapel Francis chanced on in the forest soon after restoring San Damiano.
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