Perugia | Terni | Assisi | Gubbio | Foligno | Spoleto | Orvieto | Amelia | Todi | Trasimeno | Norcia-Cascia | C. Castello
 Versione Italiana |
Historical outline of Assisi Assisi's origins, Umbrian rather than Etruscan, are thought to date back to 1800 BC. The city was fought over by pagans and believers, destroyed and rebuilt by Charlemagne (who also erected the Rocca Maggiore), and only began to emerge from centuries of misery and strife in the twelfth century, with the birth of Saint Francis and its establishment as a monastic centre. However it continued to rebel against all those who sought to dominate it, including the Holy Roman Empire and Federico Barbarossa, the papacy and its neighbouring Umbrian cities; it was also the subject of internal battles, and for a while was divided into two parts, the upper and lower towns, remembered every year in early May in the famous festival of `Calendimaggio', when Assisi decks itself out in spectacular medieval style. Assisi at last enjoyed a spell of economic prosperity during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries under the protection of the Church, and it was then that its Franciscan churches and principal public buildings were erected. But this happy interlude was short lived, and at the end of the fourteenth century the city was again plunged into long periods of warfare and fierce in-fighting, interspersed with epidemics and earthquakes. It emerged only around 1800, when the remains of Saint Francis were rediscovered (he had been secretly buried deep under the Basilica which was built to commemorate him). This allowed Assisi to assume a new importance as a religious centre and place of pilgrimage, and today it is known as the capital of world peace, enacting a vital role in the fight for human rights, respect for nature and harmony amongst people worldwide.
What to see at Assisi - Basilica di San Francesco (frescoes by Giotto, Cimabue, Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti) - Basilica di Santa Chiara - Cathedral of San Rufino - Amphitheatre Rocca Maggiore - Piazza del Comune - Eremo delle Carceri - Temple of Minerva - Museo del Foro Romano - Palazzo della Biblioteca Comunale - Pinacoteca Comunale - Monte Frumentario Oratorio dei Pellegrini - San Damiano - Santa Maria degli Angeli - San Benedetto and San Matteo Feasts and festivals in Assisi - January: Piatto di Sant'Antonio - Holy Week: Procession commemorating death of Christ - April-May: Antiques fair - May (first Thursday): Festival of Calendimaggio (pageants and processions in medieval costume) - 22 June: Feast of the Holy Vow (procession in tradional costumes) - Mid-July - early August: Music festival "Musica pro harmonia Mundi" - 1/2 August: Feast of the Pardon (regional costumes; night vigil performs at Santa Maria degli Angeli) - 11 August: Feast of patron saint, San Rufino - 12 August: Feast of Santa Chiara - September: Feast of Perdono - 3/4 October: Feast of Saint Francis How to Get There By car - Autostrada A1 - from the north, Valdichiana exit; from the south, Orte exit, then Superstrada E45, Assisi exit By train - Direct from Rome, Florence or Milan By air - Internal flights to Perugia S. Egidio airport |
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Perugia | Terni | Assisi | Gubbio | Foligno | Spoleto | Orvieto | Amelia | Todi | Trasimeno | Norcia-Cascia | C. Castello
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