The home of Saint Francis

Assisi is a historic town in the province of Perugia and is situated on the western flank of Mt. Subasio. It is the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Franciscan religious order in the town in 1208, and St. Clare (Chiara d’Offreducci), the founder of the Poor Clares. Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows of the 19th century was also born in Assisi.

A short history of Assisi

Around 1000 BC a wave of immigrants settled in the upper Tiber valley as far as the Adriatic Sea and also in the neighbourhood of Assisi. These were the Umbrians, living in small fortified settlements on high ground. From 450 BC these settlements were gradually taken over by the Etruscans. The Romans took control of central Italy by the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC. They built the flourishing municipium Asisium on a series of terraces on Mount Subasio. Remains from these Roman times can still be found in Assisi; city walls, the forum (now Piazza del Comune), a theatre, an amphitheatre and the Temple of Minerva (now transformed into the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva).

In 238 AD Assisi was converted to Christianity by bishop Rufino, who was martyred at Costano. According to tradition, his remains rest in the Cathedral Church of San Rufino in Assisi. The Ostrogoths of King Totila destroyed most of the town in 545. Assisi then came under the rule of the Lombards and later the Frankish Duchy of Spoleto.

The thriving city became an independent Ghibelline commune in the 11th century. Constantly struggling with the Guelph Perugia, it was during one of those battles, the battle at Ponte San Giovanni, that Francesco di Bernardone, (Saint Francis of Assisi), was taken prisoner, setting in motion the events that eventually led him to live as a beggar, renounce the world and establish the Order of Friars Minor. The Rocca Maggiore, the imperial fortress on top of the hill above the city, was plundered by the people in 1189 but rebuilt in 1367 on orders of the papal delegate, cardinal Gil de Albornoz. The city, which had remained within the confines of the Roman walls, began to expand outside these walls in the 13th century. In this period, the city was under papal jurisdiction.

In the beginning, Assisi fell under the rule of Perugia and later under several despots, such as the soldier of fortune Biordo Michelotti, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, Francesco I Sforza, another duke of Milan, Jacopo Piccinino and Federico II da Montefeltro, lord of Urbino. The city went into a deep decline through the plague of the Black death in 1348 AD. The city came again under papal jurisdiction under the rule of Pope Pius II (1458-1464). In 1569, construction was started of the Basilica of Santa Maria Degli Angeli. During the Renaissance and later centuries, the city continued to develop peacefully, attested by the 17th-century palaces of the Bernabei and Giacobetti.

Now the site of many a pilgrimage, Assisi is linked in legend with its native son, St. Francis. The gentle saint founded the Franciscan order and shares honours with St. Catherine of Siena as the patron saint of Italy. He is remembered by many, even non-Christians, as a lover of nature (his preaching to an audience of birds is one of the legends of his life).

Assisi was hit by the devastating twin earthquakes that shook Umbria in 1997, but the recovery and restoration have been remarkable, although much remains to be done. Massive damage was caused to many historical sites, but the major attraction, the Basilica di San Francesco, reopened less than two years later.

Some attractions of Assisi

The town is dominated by two medieval castles. The larger, called Rocca Maggiore, is a massive presence meant to intimidate the people of the town: it was built by Cardinal Albornoz (1367) and added to by Popes Pius II and Paul III. The smaller of the two was built much earlier, in the Roman Era. However, not all of it stands, and only a small portion and three towers are open to the public.

Churches

  • The Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi (St. Francis) is a World Heritage Site. The Franciscan monastery, il Sacro Convento, and the lower and upper church (Basilica inferiore e superiore) of St Francis were begun immediately after his canonization in 1228 and completed 1253. The lower church has frescos by renowned late-medieval artists Cimabue and Giotto; in the Upper church are frescos of scenes in the life of St. Francis by previously ascribed to Giotto and now thought to be by artists of the circle of Pietro Cavallini of Rome. The Basilica was badly damaged by the earthquake of September 26, 1997. Part of the vault collapsed, killing four people inside the church and carrying with it a fresco by Cimabue. The edifice was closed for two years for restoration but is now open to the public again
  • Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary the Greater), the earliest extant church
  • The Cathedral of San Rufino (St. Rufinus), with a Romanesque façade with three, rose windows and a 16th-century interior; part of it is built on a Roman cistern
  • Basilica of Santa Chiara (St Clare) with its massive lateral buttresses, rose window, and simple Gothic interior, begun in 1257, contains the tomb of the saint and 13th-century frescoes and paintings
  • Basilica of Santa Maria Degli Angeli (St. Mary of the Angels), which houses the Porziuncola
  • Chiesa Nuova, built over the presumed parental home of St. Francis

[ some text from www.wikipedia.org | “Assisi-skyline” by Roberto Ferrari from Campogalliano (Modena), Italy – AssisiUploaded by Grifomaniacs. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Assisi-skyline.jpg#/media/File:Assisi-skyline.jpg]