General view

San Francesco at Assisi consists of two superimposed churches, upper and lower churches. The first stone of the Lower Basilica was laid by Pope Gregory IX the day after the canonisation of St Francis, on July 17th 1228. Two years later the saint's body, that had been resting in the church of San Giorgio was brought here in secret for fear of looting by tomb raiders and buried in the unfinished church. No date has been recorded concerning the start of works on the Upper Basilica, but it must have been after the abdication from the order of Brother Elia in 1239, who had hitherto directed the works on the Romanesque Lower Basilica. Both churches were consecrated by Pope Innocent IV in 1253.

The construction of San Francesco in Assisi marked the start of a new era not only in Italian architecture but also in Italian cultural history. The architecture and furnishing embody a new ideal of piety which St Francis formulated in his self-imposed solitude: an industrious life lived in total poverty and humility, compassion for all creatures, and renunciation of worldly power. Giotto and his colleagues depicted Francis's life in an unique fresco cycle in the Upper Church.

View the ground plans of the Upper Church and Lower Church in San Francesco, Assisi.