| 8 travel what’s new | THE TIMES SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6 2003 | ||
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DEPARTURES THE BEST NEW HOLIDAY IDEAS Picture book comes alive in your room JILL CRAWSHAW |
ORIG1NAL frescoes adorning the walls and ceiling of your apartment bedroom have to be among the best ways of capturing the mood of the Umbrian. hill town of Assisi, a living museum of artistic treasures. For most visitors, the highlight of their stay is to enter the huge Basilica of St Francis, and gaze quietly at the series of frescoes depicting the Life of St Francis, which are usually attributed to Giotto. They tell the story of the transformation of the rich playboy into a ragged beggar and revered patron saint of Italy, and have been described as the world’s largest and most beautiful picture book. |
The apartment frescoes in the Residenza d’Epoca are originals partly restored by the best Umbrian painters who adopted the same techniques used to restore the Basilica paintings after the 1997 earthquake. The six one- and two-bedroom apartments, in the heart of the mellow medieval town, are furnished with antiques and look out over the green. Umbrian Valley. The rent for the one-bedroom apartment Madre Terra is from £545 a week or £127 a night for a minimum of three nights. Hello Italy (01483 419964, www.helloit.co.uk). |
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