Visit Italy - Assisi, Pilgrimage Town

Birthplace of St. Francis in Umbria

Assisi, the Umbrian birthplace of St. Francis, is with St. Peter's in Rome and Padre Pio's shrine in Puglia, one of Italy's top 3 pilgrimage sites. It is also one of Italy's most visited tourist attractions and art monuments. The Basilica contains sublime frescoes by Martini, Cimabue, Giotto, Pietro di Lorenzetto and other great artists of the Tuscan and Umbrian schools.

The city is perched beguilingly on the slopes of Mount Subasio, dominated by the monumental Basilica di San Francesco and its friary, a World Heritage site since 2000. Assisi was founded by the Umbrians and later became Asisium, a Roman municipium. The beautiful 1st century Roman Temple of Minerva in Piazza del Commune is a perfect example of a classical monument, with 6 Corinthian columns and a pediment.

Assisi - Birthplace of St Francis - Top Pilgrimage Site in Italy

Despite inevitable tourist tack, Assisi retains its picturesque medieval character and it is still possible to find quiet corners for contemplation away from the crowds. While it is just possible for the energetic tourist to see most of the 'sights' in a day, an overnight stay is recommended, to take in Assisi's major treasures and relish the town's tranquility when the tour buses have departed.

St. Francis of Assisi & His Disciple St. Clare

Assisi is imbued with the spirit of St. Francis, one of the most beloved of Catholic saints, who was born there in 1182, the son of a wealthy merchant and a Provençal mother. At the age of 20, he renounced a life of idleness and wealth for one of poverty and chastity and founded an order of mendicant friars known as the Frati Minori, or Order of Minors, which became the Franciscans after his death. With his devoted disciple, Saint Clare (Santa Chiara), born in 1193, he co-founded the Order of the Poor Clares (Ordine delle Clarisse).

Basilica di San Francesco - Frescoes by Lorenzetti, Cimabue and Martini - Tomb of St. Francis

Work on the Basilica began in 1228, 2 years after the saint's death. It is one of the earliest examples of Italian Gothic architecture, and consists of two churches, one built on top of the other. The Upper Church and its frescoes were badly damaged in the Umbrian earthquakes of September 1997, but are now largely restored; the Lower Church escaped damage. To follow the chronology of the art and architecture, start with the Lower Church, preferably in the morning before the crowds arrive. It is densely decorated with stunning narrative frescoes by Cimabue, Martini, Giotto and Pietro di Lorenzetti. St. Francis's remains are interred in a tomb, rebuilt in the 1920s in the crypt below.The Upper Church is grander and less contemplative than the Lower Church, but it provides a wonderfully light and airy gallery for Giotto's Life of St. Francis, an important series of frescoes painted around 1296 when the artist was 29.

Dress code in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

No shorts, miniskirts, bare arms or low-cut dresses are permitted in the Basilica and other churches of Assisi, nor are photographs allowed. Silence is requested: many Christians, Franciscans and priests make the pilgrimage to Assisi to pray at their saint's shrine.