The Basilica of St. Francis is located on the slope of Mount Subasio in the small town of Assisi. It has a Lower and Upper Church. In the crypt of the Lower Church is buried one of the most revered Catholic saints, Francis of Assisi, the founder of the mendicant Order of the Franciscans.
Today, Francis of Assisi is the Patron Saint of Italy. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims come to Assisi every year to worship him. The Basilica of St. Francis is one of the six Great Basilicas of Italy, four of which are located in Rome and two are located in Assisi.
Saint Francis of Assisi
Francis of Assisi was born in 1181 in Assisi, the son of a wealthy merchant who traded silk with France. In his family there were 6 daughters, and the only son, who was named Giovanni. In addition to his name, his father called him Francesco, which means frenchman. He was very much loved by everyone around him for his good nature, but everything was changed by the military campaign of the Assisi army to Perugia. Assisi’s army was defeated, and Francis was captured. Francis returned from captivity, realizing his other purpose. He gave up social life. In 1207, he decided to become a mendicant monk and settled in a forest near Assisi. There he lived in a small church, which he called Porziuncula. He began to have followers.
In 1209, he went to Rome to ask the Pope to establish a Franciscan monastic order. The Pope then was Innocent III, under whom the secular power of the Popes was the highest. In his influence he was superior to many kings, and the monasteries in those years were the richest landowners.
Francis suggested something completely different. He renounced material benefits, as Jesus Christ did. Franciscan monks became missionaries. The number of the Franciscan Order grew very rapidly. They lived according to the commandments of the Gospel, went preaching all over Europe and fought against heresies. Every year they all gathered together near Porziuncula in Assisi for chapters (general meetings). In the 16th century, the huge Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli was built over the Porziuncula.
Construction of the Basilica of St. Francis
Saint Francis was canonized in 1228, 2 years after his death on 3 October 1226. Usually, the recognition of the merits of saints and their canonization take decades or even centuries. The Franciscan Order began to build the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi immediately after his canonization. Before the construction of the basilica, the body of St. Francis was buried in the monastery of St. George, which is now called the Basilica of St. Clare.
The head of the Franciscan Order, Brother Elijah de Corton, prepared a project for the construction of a giant architectural complex on a hill near Assisi. The colonnade of the Sacro Convento Monastery descends the slope of the hill. It looks very impressive on the background of Mount Subasio.
The territory for the construction of the Basilica of St. Francis was given to the Order by a resident of Assisi, Simone di Pucharello. Previously, this hill was called Hell Hill, because criminals were executed on it, but after the construction of the basilica began, it was renamed Paradise Hill.
According to the project of Elijah de Corton, the Lower Church was built by 1239, which is located in the depth of the hill and is surrounded by the walls of the Sacro Convento monastery. Only part of the southern portal is visible above ground. In the Lower Church there is a crypt where St. Francis was buried. Over time, 11 chapels appeared here.
The Upper Church was built over the Lower Church between 1239 and 1253. In those years, the northern countries of Western Europe were already dominated by the Gothic style. However, the architectural style of the Basilica of St. Francis is more Romanesque than Gothic. The massive walls retain the features of a Romanesque church, and the vaults are already built with Gothic elements.
The paintings of the Basilica of St. Francis are of great cultural value. Famous Italian masters worked on them. In 1278, the walls of the Upper Church were painted by the famous Florentine painter Cimabue. After him, for more than 15 years, in the period from 1282 to 1298, the Basilica of St. Francis was painted by the great Florentine painter Giotto di Bondone and his apprentices. On the walls of the Upper Church appeared the famous 28 Franciscan stories. They are more often called Flowers of Francis (Fioretti di San Francesco).
After Giotto, the Basilica of St. Francis was painted by representatives of the school of painters from Siena. In 1322, Simone Martini worked in the Lower Church, and in 1326, Pietro Lorenzetti also worked in the Lower Church.
