Assisi

Assisi, a town of Central Italy, picturesquely situated on a steep hill, 14 miles SE. of Perugia by rail. It is surrounded by walls, and overhung by a lofty citadel in ruins. It is the birthplace of St Francis, who founded here in 1209 the mendicant order that bears his name. The monastery, one of the earliest specimens of Gothic architecture in Italy, was built in 1229. It has two Gothic churches, one surmounting the other, with frescoes and paintings by Cimabue, Giotto, and other masters; beneath, in a Doric crypt (1818), are the relics of St Francis. Assisi also possesses a cathedral of San Rufino and a church of Santa Maria, the latter built out of a temple of Minerva. Pop. 3800.