Assisi

ASSISI INTRODUCTION

ASSISI INTRODUCTION

This small, agreeable medieval town sits on the western flank of Mount Subasio, and its privileged position looking onto the Umbrian Valley allows visitors to admire breath-taking views of gentle...

THE WONDERS OF LOCAL CUISINE

THE WONDERS OF LOCAL CUISINE

The most common starter is a sample of the delicious Umbrian salamis and cold cuts, such as Capocollo, from the back of the pig, prosciutto from Norcia, or Ventresca, a local type of pancetta, or...

SAINT FRANCIS

SAINT FRANCIS

The son of a prosperous fabric merchant, Pietro di Bernardone, and a noblewoman named Giovanna, in his youth he took part in the wars with the nearby cities, and was captured and imprisoned for a...

BASILICA OF SAN FRANCESCO

BASILICA OF SAN FRANCESCO

What you’re looking at now is the facade, with a simple, double-pitched roof, a portal with a Gothic-style pointed arch, a large rose window half-way up and a smaller rose window above it, to...

HOUSE WHERE SAINT FRANCIS WAS BORN

HOUSE WHERE SAINT FRANCIS WAS BORN

Opposite it, there is the seventeenth-century facade of the Chiesa Nuova, or “new church”. Bear with me, and listen to the translation of the phrase in Latin at the top of the portal,...

PIAZZA DEL COMUNE

PIAZZA DEL COMUNE

In medieval towns and cities in Italy, the most important buildings looked onto the square. Those you can see here indeed date back to the Middle Ages; they’re the same ones you saw, or will see...

BASILICA OF SANTA CHIARA

BASILICA OF SANTA CHIARA

The Basilica has a very simple facade, divided into three parts by two horizontal cornices; in the center is a magnificent rose window embellished with a lace-like decoration. The only adornment is...

CATHEDRAL OF SAN RUFINO

CATHEDRAL OF SAN RUFINO

If you’re thinking the inside is much less austere than the facade, you’re right: it is bright, plastered and well-lit, because it was completely renovated in the 16th century in...

ABBEY OF SAN PIETRO

ABBEY OF SAN PIETRO

If you’ve already visited other churches in Assisi, you’ll find this one familiar. The facade is divided into regular horizontal and vertical surfaces, embellished with elegant rose...

ROCCA

ROCCA

Let me begin by telling you about the earliest information we have about this fortress, so you can draw your own conclusions. In the last years of the 12th century, Frederick Barbarossa, head of the...

SANTA MARIA DEGLI ANGELI IN PORZIUNCOLA

SANTA MARIA DEGLI ANGELI IN PORZIUNCOLA

You may be wondering what the enormous building in front of you has to do with a modest little church, and you will have guessed that it can’t be the one I’ve been talking about....

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