Basilica di San Francesco

I am not a super religious person, so I was surprised that the Basilica of Saint Francis was one of my favorite places on my Spain, France, & Italy tour. It is the second most visited hutch in Italy.
The basilica is located on top of a hill and there are beautiful views all around it. We had a tour guide and during our visit, we learned about the frescos and history of the church. And they are incredible to admire and such a wonder on how those works where done during those times! We weren’t allowed to take photos or video, but the beauty inside the basilica is forever painted on my mind.
Take some time to walk through the upper and lower basilicas, sit in the seats, and imagine being there with Saint Francis.

st francis of assisi. well by this time in our tour we had seen so much are and some many grand Cathedrals. it was overwhelming to this girl from a small farm town in Ohio. I wish they would have allowed photography inside … it was lovely. But of course they want you to buy the books. the little town was so cute and quaint and the view of the countryside was amazing. This was just a little stop on our tour but so worth the time.

Located deep in the heart of Umbria, up on top of a hill, behind a grand wall is Assisi. And within Assisi is the great Basilica di San Francesco, a grand, gorgeous structure with some of the most spectacular interior architecture and mosaic tile work I’ve ever seen… and I took an 11 day tour across Italy.
There’s a lower basilica with terrace and an upper basilica with great green lawn and all of it was just stunning.
Make sure this one is on your itinerary!

As we walked through the city of Assisi, the bells called us to mass at the Basilica di San Francesco. It was one of the most spiritual experiences I’ve ever had.
It was memorable to hear the mass in Italian, but it was also inspiring to let my soul embrace the beautiful art that surrounded us. From the main stained glass rose window to the sculptured cornices, beauty was everywhere you looked. Each sight was stunning and remarkable. If you get a guide, they’ll tell you about the earthquake in 1997, but they’re doing great restoration on the damage.
After mass we walked down the hill to have lunch at a restaurant — can’t remember the name — but there were red poppies along the path.
There’s nothing like walking around Assisi and hearing those bells. It’s well worth the visit if you’re in Umbria — and a fan of St. Francis. It’s an amazing cathedral with lots of history, and the town has some gorgeous views.

In the film Religulous, Bill Maher carries an extended conversation with Reginald Foster, an American Catholic priest and friar of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (It’s called Wikipedia, folks). When Mahar asked Foster about the bizarre tendency of Catholics in a monotheistic religion to pray to an entity other than their actually god, Foster responded by citing a survey done in Italy where it was revealed that the sixth individual Italians pray to was none other than Jesus Christ, the heart of the faith. Jesus was sixth, leading Foster to comment, «Talk about cafeteria Catholics.»
There was no greater example of this dichotomy than Assisi, a Christian commune in Italy with papal stores where one could purchase actual vestments. Despite the many crosses mixed with oddly displaced Roman relics, it all appears to take second fiddle the great St Frances of Assisi. How great is he? He occupies fully half of the walls of the dominant Basilica. The other half was for the seemingly equally important central figure of the faith. The church was packed full of tourists led by different guides. Ours was a shockingly curt lady that castigated photographers when she wasn’t insulting both Germany and France in her tour of the Basilica (apparently, you can judge an entire country on the attitude of the monks from said country). Every time someone tried to take a photo from within the basilica, she would shout ‚“NO PHOTO!” repeating the ridiculous argument about preserving the paintings against the damage from camera flashes.
Funny thing, during the tour, we all spotted a brilliant green laser pointer held by a monk at the church leading his own tour. I’m fairly certain a laser is more damaging that a camera flash, just saying. It’s not like you could take a good photo anyway. It’s incredibly dark inside. And I found the possible photos outside, both at the lower and upper grounds, much more satisfying. At night, Assisi all but clears out, offering Zen-​like moments in near empty walkways around the church.
Beyond this, the Basilica is actually a beautiful place. Its dominant position does secure its place atop the reasons to visit Assisi, though not the only one. Visiting the Basilica di San Francesco is certainly a must, though don’t come for the day expecting to only take in this one attraction. Assisi in its entirety is an amazing commune, with amazing shops; there’s even a castle – though oddly ignored by the tour guides. If you think the Basilica is the only reason to visit Assisi, you’d be wrong.

Bei seinem Besuch in Assisi auf seiner Italienreise titulierte Goethe die Basilika als ungeheuere Substruktion babylonisch übereinander getürmter Kirchen. Wie sich dieser aufwendige Doppelbau für den Heiligen Franziskus, der Armut predigte rechtfertigt, ist bis heute nicht für jeden nachvollziehbar. Sehr schön sind die Ober– und Unterkirche trotzdem.
Leider stürzte beim großen Erdbeben von 1997 das Deckengewölbe samt der berühmten Fresken ein. Dabei kamen auch Menschen zu Tode. Für 40 Mio. EUR wurde mit modernster Technik über mehrere Jahre hinweg tausende Scherben wieder restauriert und zusammengefügt.
Grundsteinlegung war 1228, einen Tag nach der Heiligsprechung von Franz.
Sehenswert sind natürlich die Fresken in der gotischen Oberkirche, wobei noch nicht für alle eindeutig geklärt ist, welche von wem sie stammen. Dabei selbstverständlich der 28 Bilder umfassende Zyklus des Lebens von Franziskus. Bemerkenswert ist auch das Chorgestühl aus dem 15. Jahrhundert.
Die Unterkirche ist romanisch, finsterer und natürlich auch voll mit Fresken. Von hier geht’s in die schlichte Krypta in der der Heilige Franziskus liegt. Inszenierter Franz von Assisi Kult!
Ich bin froh, es schon zweimal gesehen zu haben.

Haut lieu de la chrétienté, la basilique Saint François a été créee par l’ordre des frêres franciscains non loin du lieu où François d’Assise eut ses apparitions du christ et de la Vierge.
La basilique est construite sur une ancienne église qui renferme le tombeau du saint (on peut faire dire des messes moyennant espèces sonnantes) et comporte deux parties: la basilique inférieure (c’est par elle que l’on rentre dans l’édifice) très sombre et propre au recueillement ;
la basilique supérieure (on y accède en deux étapes un escalier de pierres qui mèné dans une partie accessible du monastère accollé à la basilique et là on doit monter un nouvel escalier) qui contraste avec ses volumes gothiques.
c’est la basilique supérieure qui a souffert le plus du tremblement de terre qui a eu lieu en 1997: la nef s’écroule avec une partie des fresques de Giotto retraçant la vie de Saint François, il a fallu deux années de restauration minutieuse mais malheureusement tout n’a pas été restitué comme auparavant.
en sortant de la basilique supérieure, le village médiéval d’Assise est devant vous.
j’avoue que je m’y suis rendu pour la première fois en 1996 avant le tremblement de terre, puis j’y suis retourné en 2001 et j’y ai ressenti un moment de plénitude en dehors du temps.