Assisi
Assisi
Assisi stretches out on the slopes of Subasio, above the plain where the Topino and Chiascio. Although it can boast Roman origins, the present-day appearance, because of the buildings of the urban fabric, is surely due to the medieval development.
The oldest part of town is protected by a defensive apparatus made up of eight fortified entrance portals and a long wall, still in excellent condition, which is topped by two castles: the Major Castle, reconstructed by the Cardinal Albornoz in 1367 and the Minor Castle. Assisi, as well as places of worship of such importance that it can not be considered solely the heritage, like St. Francis, tourists can also visit the churches of Santa Clara and San Pietro. The first was constructed in Gothic style between 1257 and 1265, the second is a little older and decorated with an elegant middle portal with three rose windows. The Cathedral, dedicated to the patron Saint Rufino, a splendid and unaltered facade with sculptures and reliefs, the interior, however, has undergone much reconstruction during the centuries which have distorted the original plan of the thirteenth century. On the Town Square in Assisi, located on the ancient area of ​​the hole, we find the Palazzo dei Priori in 1337, the thirteenth-century Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo and the Temple of Minerva, built during the Augustan period with pronaos, columns and Corinthian capitals still intact . Nearby one can visit the places connected with the life of St. Francis, as the Hermitage of the Carceri, immersed in a dense forest of oaks and ilex on the slopes of Subasio and the convent of San Damiano, which grew up in, according to tradition The crucifix spoke to the Saint. In plain, then, the imposing Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli was built on plans of Alessi between 1569 and 1679 to protect the Chapel of Portiuncula, the poor first meeting of the Franciscan friars.
All those who have the good fortune of visiting this splendid town have to agree with who says that her beauty goes beyond a brief and necessarily incomplete list of works more or less extraordinary, but rather to be found in the atmosphere places that history and faith of the Saint have rendered unique all over the world.
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