Foro Romano
Assisi's secular highlight is a little underwhelming for non-history buffs, but the remnants of this Roman Forum can still hold some magic. An entrance room (the old crypt of San Nicolò Church) houses inscribed tablets and headless statues, but the main passage leading off from here preserves a tiny piece of 2nd-century B.C. Asisium -- a slice of the old forum some 3.9m (13 ft.) below 21st-century Piazza del Comune. There isn't much to see beyond more tablets and the foundations (with English labels) of what would have been grand Roman buildings, but it's enough to stir a curious imagination. The plain stone rectangular slab in the middle was probably used as an altar for votive statues. Farther along the corridor, ongoing excavations have revealed the bases of some Roman buildings, probably shops.
Assisi's secular highlight is a little underwhelming for non-history buffs, but the remnants of this Roman Forum can still hold some magic. An entrance room (the old crypt of San Nicolò Church) houses inscribed tablets and headless statues, but the main passage leading off from here preserves a tiny piece of 2nd-century B.C. Asisium -- a slice of the old forum some 3.9m (13 ft.) below 21st-century Piazza del Comune. There isn't much to see beyond more tablets and the foundations (with English labels) of what would have been grand Roman buildings, but it's enough to stir a curious imagination. The plain stone rectangular slab in the middle was probably used as an altar for votive statues. Farther along the corridor, ongoing excavations have revealed the bases of some Roman buildings, probably shops.
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