It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius, born around 50–45 BC. It is the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Order of Friars Minor in that town in 1208, and of St. Clare of Assisi (Chiara d'Offreducci), who, with St. Francis, founded the Order of Poor Ladies, which later became the Order of Poor Clares after her death. The 19th-century St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was also born in Assisi.
History
The earliest attested people of Assisi were the Umbri. In 77AD Pliny the Elder described Regio VI Umbria and said that the Umbri were thought to be the oldest inhabitants of Italy. The people of Assisi were mentioned by name.[7] The Romans took control of central Italy after the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC. They built the flourishing municipium Asisium on a series of terraces on Monte Subasio. Roman remains 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 1997, the remains of a Roman villa were also discovered containing several well-preserved rooms with frescoes and mosaics in a condition rarely found outside sites such as Pompei.
The Augustan age poet Propertius is considered to have been born in what is now the city of Assisi.
The Ostrogoths of king Totila destroyed most of the town in 545. Assisi then came under the rule of the Lombards as part of the Lombard and then Frankish Duchy of Spoleto.
The thriving commune 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 Collestrada, that Giovanni di Bernardone (better known as St. 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.
Temple of Minerva in the Piazza del Comune.
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. The Rocca Maggiore, the imperial fortress on top of the hill above the city, which had been plundered by the people in 1189, was rebuilt in 1367 on orders of the papal legate, cardinal Gil de Albornoz.
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 in later centuries, the city continued to develop peacefully, as the 17th-century palazzi of the Bernabei and Giacobetti attest.
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).
During World War II Assisi was occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1943. To save Jews in Italy the Catholic Church started the Assisi Network and hid Jews in the city. As the Allies moved up Italy, Germany declared Assisi an open city and pulled out, turning the city over to Italian partisans. The 12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales) entered the city on 17 June 1944. Colonel Valentin Müller, a German medical officer and a Catholic, was able to make Assisi a German hospital city for German troops in Italy in the summer of 1944, helping save Assisi from destruction, unlike Cassino.[8][9][10]
Assisi was hit by two devastating earthquakes that shook Umbria in September 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 2 years later.
Main sights
UNESCO collectively designated the Franciscan structures of Assisi as a World Heritage Site in 2000.
Churches
Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi (St. Francis): The Franciscan monastery, il Sacro Convento, and the lower and upper church (Italian: Basilica inferiore and Basilica superiore) of St Francis were begun immediately after his canonization in 1228, and completed in 1253. The lower church has frescoes by the late-medieval artists Cimabue and Giotto; the upper church houses frescoes of scenes in the life of St. Francis previously ascribed to Giotto, but now thought to be by artists of the circle of Pietro Cavallini from Rome. The Basilica was badly damaged by a 5.5 earthquake on 26 September 1997, during which 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.
The Transito, chapel built in the cell where St. Francis died.
Church of San Damiano one of the churches restored by St. Francis and the location of one of his most famous visions, given to St. Clare as a home for the first Poor Clares.
Eremo delle Carceri: a small monastery with a church at a canyon above the town, where St. Francis retreated and preached to birds
Church of San Pietro (St. Peter): monastery built by the Benedictines in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 13th century. It has a rectangular façade with three rose windows; the Gothic chapel of the Holy Sacrament houses a triptych by Matteo di Gualdo.
Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary the Greater): earliest extant church in Assisi and former cathedral.
Santo Stefano: one of the oldest churches of Assisi.
Other landmarks
Rocca Maggiore, December 2023Aerial view of San Damiano complexEremo delle Carceri.
The town is dominated by two medieval castles. The larger, called Rocca Maggiore, is a massive reconstruction by Cardinal Albornoz (1366) and expanded by popes Pius II (polygonal tower, 1458) and Paul III (the cylindrical bastion near the entrance, 1535–1538). The smaller of the two was built in Roman era: it has been only partially preserved, a small portion and three towers being open to the public.
Other sights include:
the Roman amphitheater, built in the early 1st century AD. Its elliptical plan is identifiable from the medieval houses built around it, and from an arch of travertine cunei. The arena now houses a garden.[11]
the Piazza del Comune ("Communal Square"), with the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo (mid-13th century, featuring a series of merlons added in 1927), the adjoining Torre del Popolo ("People's Tower", 1305) the Palazzo dei Priori ("Palace of the Priors", 1275–1493). The fountains with three lions on the southern side date from the 16th century.
The crypt of the demolished church of San Nicolò di Piazza also located on the Piazza del Comune, where St. Francis and Bernard of Quintavalle consulted the text of the Gospels when forming the earliest Franciscan Rule.
The abbey of St. Benedict, founded in the 10th century on the Monte Subasio. Remains include the crypt (late 11th century), the apse and the external walls.
Assisi has had a rich tradition of art through the centuries and is now home to a number of well-known artistic works.[12]
Artists Pietro Lorenzetti and Simone Martini worked shoulder to shoulder at Assisi. The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi includes a number of artistic works. Simone Martini's 1317 fresco there reflects the influence of Giotto in realism and the use of brilliant colours. Lorenzetti's fresco at the lower church of the Basilica includes a series of panels depicting the Crucifixion of Jesus, Deposition from the Cross, and Entombment of Christ. The figures Lorenzetti painted display emotions, yet the figures in these scenes are governed by geometric emotional interactions, unlike many prior depictions which appeared to be independent iconic aggregations. Lorenzetti's 1330 Madonna dei Tramonti also reflects the ongoing influence of Giotto on his Marian art, midway through his career.[13][14]
Culture
c. 1920 travel poster
The Calendimaggio Festival takes place on the first four days of May ending on a Saturday. The festival is a re-enactment of medieval and Renaissance life in the form of a challenge between the upper faction (parte de sopra) with a blue flag and the lower faction of the town (parte de sotto) with a red flag. It includes processions, theatrical presentations, choirs, crossbow, flag-waving and dancing contests.
Today many groups gather in Assisi for a variety of cultural and religious activities. One such group[which?] restored [when?] an 11th-century room and added altars to the world's religions. Other organizations, such as Assisi Performing Arts,[15] host musical performances and other cultural events.
^Harris, W.; DARMC, R. Talbert; S. Gillies, J. Åhlfeldt; J. Becker, T. Elliott (22 September 2019). "Places: 413037 (Asisium)". Pleiades. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
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