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Assisi Attractions
Assisi’s geographical and civic heart is Piazza del Comune, with its 13th-century Palazzo del Capitano and the stately Corinthian columns of the Roman Tempio di Minerva guarding its northern fringe. The most atmospheric route to the basilica goes downhill from here along medieval Via Portica, which becomes Via Fortini and Via San Francesco before arriving at the main event.
9 Results
- Religious Site
Basilica di San Francesco
One of the most popular pilgrimage sites in Christendom combines homage to eternally popular St. Francis, masterworks of medieval architecture, and some of the favorite works of Western art. The basilica is actually two churches, lower and upper; the lower church is dark and somber,… - Religious Site
Basilica di Santa Chiara
One of the first followers of St. Francis was a young woman, Chiara (Clare, in English), daughter of a count and countess who was so swept away by the teachings of the young zealot that she allowed him to cut her hair and dress her in sackcloth. She founded the order of the Poor… - Religious Site
Basilica di Santa Maria Degli Angeli
It's impossible to miss this enormous Mannerist-style church, dominating the valley below Assisi. Constructed between 1569 and 1679 to preserve the 9th-century chapel known as Porziuncola, where St. Francis established his order in 1209 (Benedictine monks gifted the chapel to him),… - Religious Site
Cattedrale di San Rufino
Assisi's cathedral is off a quiet walled piazza that receives some historians' votes as the true site of Assisi's Roman forum. The first church on this spot may have been raised as early as the 5th century. In 1028, the town's bishop witnessed an unrecorded miraculous event and had… - Religious Site
Ermeo delle Carceri and Monte Subasio
The Via Eremo delle Carceri runs ever more steeply from Assisi's Porta Cappuccini along the oak- and ilex-covered slopes of Mt. Subasio. Nestled at the head of a tree-smothered gorge 4km (2 1/2 miles) along the road, is the peacefully isolated Eremo delle Carceri (hermitage), built…Outside the walls
- Museum
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… - Religious Site
Oratorio dei Pellegrini
The white-robed sisters are often kneeling inside praying, so you'll most likely only be able to poke your head through the heavy curtains and automatic glass doors for a respectfully quick glance at the 15th-century frescoes inside this tiny chapel. Matteo da Gualdo, who was… - Castle
Rocca Maggiore
A show of might is built of bleached yellow stone atop a steep hillside very high above the city. Some view enthusiasts claim that a sharp-eyed observer can see all the way to the Mediterranean on a clear day, but that’s probably an oxygen-deprivation vision induced by the hearty… - Religious Site
San Damiano
San Damiano is where it all began, a dilapidated old church that in 1205 housed a 12th-century painted crucifix before which young and restless Francesco was praying one day when the Christ on it spoke to him. Francis first acted on its "rebuild my church" injunction in literal…Outside the Walls
