Assisi

Assisi sits on the western side of Monte Subasio in Umbria, part of the Province of Perugia. It is widely thought to be the birthplace of the Roman poet Propertius, who lived around 50–45 BC. The town is also famous as the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Order of Friars Minor there in 1208, and of St. Clare, who co-founded the Order of Poor Ladies with him (later renamed the Order of Poor Clares). St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was also born in Assisi in 1838.

The earliest known inhabitants of the area were the Umbri, whom Pliny the Elder described in 77 AD as possibly Italy’s oldest people. The Romans took control after the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC and built the thriving municipium of Asisium on terraced land on Monte Subasio. Roman remains still visible include city walls, the forum (now Piazza del Comune), a theatre, an amphitheatre, and the Temple of Minerva, which now houses the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. In 1997, the remains of a Roman villa were uncovered, with well-preserved frescoes and mosaics rarely seen outside sites like Pompeii.

Assisi converted to Christianity in 238 AD under Bishop Rufino, who was martyred at Costano; his remains are said to rest in the Cathedral Church of San Rufino. In 545, the Ostrogoths under King Totila destroyed much of the town. Later, Assisi came under Lombard rule as part of the Duchy of Spoleto, which then passed to the Franks. By the 11th century, it was an independent Ghibelline commune, often clashing with the Guelph city of Perugia. During one such battle at Collestrada, Giovanni di Bernardone—later St. Francis—was taken prisoner, an event that set him on the path to renouncing the world and founding the Franciscan order.

The city, originally confined within its Roman walls, began expanding beyond them in the 13th century under papal jurisdiction. The Rocca Maggiore fortress, plundered by locals in 1189, was rebuilt in 1367 on orders of Cardinal Gil de Albornoz. Assisi later fell under Perugia’s control and then under various despots, including Biordo Michelotti, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Francesco I Sforza, Jacopo Piccinino, and Federico II da Montefeltro. The Black Death in 1348 caused a deep decline. Pope Pius II restored papal rule in 1458–1464. Construction of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli began in 1569.