The 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi invites visitors to make a special discovery on Várhegy in Veszprém.
In 1225, in San Damiano near Assisi, a seriously ill man composed a song inspired by the radiance of the sun. Due to his eye condition, he could barely see by then. Yet Saint Francis of Assisi evoked the sun, the wind and the water so vividly that we are still reading his song eight centuries later.
It was then that the first part of the *Hymn to the Sun* was written, to which Francis later added further verses. He referred to the creatures as his brothers and, through them, praised God. The language of the text is also noteworthy: it was written in the Umbrian vernacular, standing as one of the early examples of the emerging Italian literature. The sun, the moon and the stars are described in it using words close to everyday speech.
Ferenc died on 3 October 1226. The 800th anniversary of his death falls on this Saturday.
We can also get a sense of its heritage in Veszprém. The Franciscans moved to their present location within the castle in 1681. St Stephen’s Church – which is currently closed to visitors due to renovation work – and the adjoining friary preserve the memory of the community that grew out of the followers of the son of a cloth merchant from Assisi.
Then let’s take a few minutes to appreciate the tiny details of Castle Hill. The veins of a leaf in the garden of the Biró–Giczey House. The wind that brushes across our faces and stirs the foliage, the light that dances across an old stone bench.
Following the ‘Light and Devotion’ guided tour of the castle, we can continue our exploration in the halls of the Archbishop’s Palace and the Gizella Chapel.
