What to See in Assisi: Basilica di San Francesco and Santa Chiara

San Francesco d'Assisi giovinezza - Saint Francis of Assisi youth

Saint Francis of Assisi: His Youth

In the harsh winter that enveloped Umbria between 1181 and 1182, a child named Giovanni was born in Assisi.

San Francesco d'Assisi conversione - Saint Francis's conversion

Saint Francis of Assisi: The Conversion

Francis reflected upon both the dreams he had experienced and decided to return to Assisi, following the words he had heard.

luoghi di San Francesco - places of Saint Francis

The Places of Francis

It was probably in the autumn of 1205 that Francis heard the wooden crucifix, placed above the altar of the little church of San Damiano, speak to him.

San Francesco e il lupo di Gubbio - Saint Francis Wolf of Gubbio

Saint Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio

In The Little Flowers of Saint Francis (Fioretti di San Francesco), one of the most famous and captivating episodes is recounted

Vista frontale aerea della Cascata delle Marmore. Dal verde intenso della vegetazione salgono nuvole di vapore acqueo mentre l'acqua in tutta la sua potenza scorre verso il basso, creando diramazioni e salti.

The Marmore Falls

The work of man and the power of nature. With a drop of 165 meters, it is among the highest waterfalls in Europe.

Rasiglia

Near the banks of Menotre River and near the street leading to the municipality of Sellano, it is hidden the small village of Rasiglia, a fraction of the municipality of Foligno.

Vista leggermente scorciata di un cunicolo della Orvieto Sotterranea. Questo ha una forma pressoché circolare e lungo i lati si trovano le aperture di altri cunicoli che lo intercettano.

Orvieto Underground

Orvieto Underground: the history and events of the underground city from Etruscan times to the Second World War.

Pozzo etrusco Perugia - Etruscan Well Perugia

The Etruscan Well of Perugia

The Etruscan Well is a 3rd-century BC engineering masterpiece that showcases Etruscan ingenuity and the city’s deep connection to its origins.

Con Francesco – Immersive Experience

An immersive experience that, thanks to Virtual Reality, offers the opportunity to encounter the figure of the Saint directly, tracing his life and listening to his most universal

Walking Tour Todi

An elegant and refined city, suspended between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

History and spirituality in the heart of Umbria

Assisi, nestled in the Umbrian countryside on the wooded slopes of Monte Subasio, is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the heart of a unique historical and cultural story. Visiting Assisi means being deeply touched by the presence of Saint Francis and by all that his life and message inspired. Entering the town from the west, one of the most common entrance, visitors are greeted by the architectural masterpiece of the Basilica di San Francesco, built on the site once known as the “Hill of Hell”, so called because, according to legend, executions were once carried out there. By declaring during his lifetime that he wished to be buried in that very place, Francis effectively indicated where the Basilica would rise, now standing proudly on what is today called the “Hill of Paradise”.

Fortresses, abbeys and cathedrals

Assisi appears as a characteristic fortified hill town, built upon Roman terraces, overlooking the Valle Umbra from the slopes of Monte Subasio. By the early thirteenth century, it had become a free commune with its own distinctive monuments, including the Rocca Maggiore, the Cattedrale di San Rufino in Umbrian Romanesque style (13th century) and the Abbazia di San Pietro, dating back to the 12th century, once the church of a Benedictine monastery located outside the city walls. Until 1035, the city’s cathedral was Santa Maria Maggiore, built between the 8th and 9th centuries on the remains of a Roman domus. Today, the relics of Saint Carlo Acutis rest within this church.

From Roman times to the Middle Ages, between art and nature

The demographic and social growth of Assisi led to an expansion of the city walls between 1260 and 1316. During this period, the Basilica Inferiore e Superiore di San Francesco were adorned with their celebrated fresco cycles, masterpieces by the first great masters of Italian painting: Cimabue, Giotto, Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti. At the opposite end of the town, between 1257 and 1265, the Church of Saint Clare was erected to house the body of the Saint and the community of the Poor Clares. In the 13^th century, Town Hall Square regained the central role it had once held in Roman times, when it was the town’s forum. The Tempio di Minerva, which still dominates the square in perfect preservation, became the seat of the city magistrates in 1212. The Franciscan memory that pervades the town naturally extends beyond its walls to nearby sacred places such as the Eremo delle Carceri, the Church of San Damiano, the Sanctuary di Rivotorto, and the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli, which houses the Porziuncola within. Next to Basilica di San Francesco, the Bosco di San Francesco descends towards the valley — a landscape of woods, meadows, olive groves and cultivated fields, preserved and cared for by the FAI – Italian National Trust. Exploring the area of Assisi, both in the town and its surrounding countryside, evokes the timeless relevance of the Franciscan message: one that still today inspires personal reflection and a deep sense of communion with nature.

Assisi

Assisi