San Francesco, Asim, Dante's Tomb

From the library, we went to a tourist office on Piazza San Francesco, then went into the church of San Francesco to look at the mosaics, which are located beneath the altar, submerged in water. On the way in, we met a Pakistani man named Asim, who was 'helping' the tourists by holding the door (panhandling). We went in and looked at the mosaics (see the pictures), and when we came out, we had a long conversation in English with Asim.

He told us that he is a Christian who was beaten and stabbed (he showed me the scar) by Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan. He said that he walked from Pakistan to Italy, which took seven months, and he had to pay to be smuggled over the border. Now the government has accepted him as an asylum-seeker, but he has no job, thus his 'work' at the church. He asked us as Americans to urge our government to pressure Pakistan to protect its Christian minority. 

Dante was expelled from Florence and went to live in Ravenna, and his tomb is next door to the San Francesco church. We wandered through the grounds of the museum dedicated to him, but did not go into it. We will do that next time.