A Guide to Assisi

Assisi is one of the best known Umbrian towns and is found on the east side of Perugia. It is visible from miles around, having been built on a hill with a prominent castle. The buildings are built in a pinkish stone and there radiating warmth adds to the towns charms. There is a network of narrow streets and passages that open to many surprises.

Assisi has great historical importance having once been the city of St Francis, the monk who spoke to the animals and with God, and whose followers were the first members of the Franciscan order. The city has since been a destination for pilgrimages and is full of sites with religious significance such as the convent of St. Damian where God supposedly spoke to the Monk.

The Basilica of St Francis and the Eremo of the Prisons are sites both linked to the saint and the Chiesa Nuova is a church built on the supposed birth place of the Saint. The Basilica is a two story church built in honor of the saint and now houses St. Francis’s body. It houses works by a collection of extraordinary artists with frescoes by Simone Martini, Giotto, Cimabue and Pietro Lorenzetti.

Other sites with artistic and historical relevance are the Palazzo dei Priori in the Piazza del Comune, the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo, San Pietro, the fortress of Rocca Maggiore, the Duomo and the Temple of Minerva which was the original Roman heart of the town. There are many possible excursions around the town that allow you to admire the surrounding landscape.