ASSISI (anc.

See also:

• ASISIUM (mod. Assisi)

Asisium)  , a town and episcopal see of Umbria, Italy, in the province of Perugia, 15 M . E.S.E. by rail from the town of Perugia . Pop . (1901) town, 5338; commune, 17,240 . The town occupies a fine position on a mountain (134.5 ft. above sea-level) with a view over the valleys of the Tiber and Topino . It is mainly famous in connexion with St Francis, who was born here in 1182, and returned to die in 1226 . The Franciscan monastery and the lower and upper church of St Francis were begun immediately after his canonization in 1228, and completed in 1253, being fine specimens of Gothic architecture . The crypt was added in 1818, when the sarcophagus containing his remains was discovered . The lower church contains frescoes by Cimabue, Giotto and others, the most famous of which are those over the high altar by Giotto, illustrating the vows of the Franciscan order; while the upper church has frescoes representing scenes from the life of St Francis (probably by Giotto and his con-temporaries) on the lower portion of the walls of the nave, and scenes from Old and New Testament history by pupils of Cimabue on the upper . The church of Santa Chiara (St Clare), the foundress of the Poor Clares, with its massive lateral buttresses, fine rose-window, and simple Gothic interior, was begun in 1257, four years after her death . It contains the tomb of the saint and 13th-century frescoes and pictures . Santa Maria Maggiore is also a good Gothic church .

The

cathedral (San Rufino) has a fine facade with three rose-windows of 1140; the interior was modernized in 1572 . The town is dominated by the. medieval castle (1655 ft.), built by CardinalAlbornoz (1367) and added to by Popes Pius II. and Paul III . Two miles to the east in a ravine below Monte Subasio is the hermitage delle Carceri (2300 ft.), partly built, partly cut out of the solid rock, given to St Francis by Benedictine monks as a place of retirement . Below the town to the south-west, close to the station, is the large pilgrimage church of Santa Maria degli Angell, begun in 1569 by Pope Pius V., with Vignola as architect; but not completed until 1640 . It contains the original oratory of St Francis and the cell in which he died . Adjacent is the garden in which the saint's thornless roses bloom in May . Half a mile outside the town to the south-east is the convent of San Damian, erected by St Francis, of which St Clare was first abbess . In the early middle ages Assisi was subject to the dukes of Spoleto; but in the 11th century it seems to have been independent . It became involved, however, in the disputes of Guelphs and Ghibellines, and was frequently at war with Perugia . It was sacked by Perugia and the papal troops in 1442, and even after that continued to be the prey of factions . The place is now famous as a resort of pilgrims, and is also important for the history of Italian art . The poet Metastasio was born here in 1688 .

See L .

Duff-Gordon, Assisi (" Mediaeval Towns " series, London, 1900) . For ancient history see Asisium . (T .