Assisi

Assisi (Latin: Asisium, Italian: Assisi) is a municipality and Italian city in the province of Perugia, in the Umbria region.

According to the 2007 census, the municipality had 26,000 inhabitants in a municipal area of 187 km². The city itself has a population of about 5,500 people. After the 2006 elections, the city council is governed by Claudio Ricci (PdL).

Relevant episcopal seat, it is also the city where Saint Francis of Assisi, founder in 1208 of the Franciscan order or "Franciscans", and Saints Clare of Assisi (Chiara d'Offreducci), founder of the Order of the Sisters, were born. Poor people of Saint Clare or "Poor Clares", and Agnes of Assisi (Caterina d'Offreducci).

History

Around 1000 BC. C. a wave of immigrants settled in the upper Tiber valley reaching the Adriatic Sea and also in the surroundings of Assisi. These were the Umbrians, who lived in small fortified settlements on high ground. From the year 450 BC. C. these settlements were gradually taken over by the Etruscans. The Romans controlled central Italy thanks to the Battle of Sentino in 295 BC. C. They built the flourishing municipium Asisium on a series of terraces on Mount Subasio. Remnants of these Roman times can still be found in Assisi: the city walls, the forum (today Piazza del Comune), a theatre, an amphitheater and the temple of Minerva (currently transformed into the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva).

In the year 238 Assisi was converted to Christianity by Bishop Rufino, who was martyred in Costano. According to tradition, her remains rest in the cathedral church of San Rufino, in Assisi.

King Totila's Ostrogoths destroyed most of the city in 545. It then fell under the rule of the Lombards and then the Frankish duchy of Spoleto.

The city became an independent Ghibelline commune in the 11th century. In constant struggle with the Guelph Perugia, it was during one of those battles, that of Ponte San Giovanni, when Francesco di Bernardone fell prisoner, which set in motion the series of events that eventually led him to live as a beggar, resign to the world and establish the order of the minor brothers.

The Rocca Maggiore, the imperial fortress atop the hill above the city, was sacked by the people in 1189, but rebuilt in 1367 by order of the papal legate, Cardinal Gil Álvarez de Albornoz.

The city, which had remained within the confines of the Roman walls, began to expand in the 13th century. In this period the city was under papal jurisdiction. At first, Assisi fell under the rule of Perugia and later under various despots, such as the soldier of fortune Biordo Michelotti, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, Francesco I Sforza, another Duke of Milan, Jacopo Piccinino and Federico II da Montefeltro., lord of Urbino. The city entered into clear decline after the Black Death of 1348. The city returned to papal rule with Pius II (1458-1464).

In 1569 the construction of the basilica of Santa María de los Ángeles began. During the Renaissance and in subsequent centuries, the city continued to develop peacefully, as witnessed by the 17th century palaces of the Bernabei and Giacobetti.

Currently it is a great pilgrimage center. Assisi is linked to the motto of its best-known son, Saint Francis. The saint founded the Franciscan order and shares honors with Saint Catherine as patron saint of Italy. He is remembered by many, even non-Christians, as a lover of nature, one of the events of his life being his preaching to birds.

Assisi was affected by two devastating earthquakes that struck Umbria in 1997, but remarkable restoration has taken place, although much remains to be done. Great damage was done to many historic sites, but the main attraction, the Basilica of St. Francis, opened less than two years later.

Heritage

The city is dominated by a medieval castle called “La Roca Mayor” built by Cardinal Gil Álvarez de Albornoz (1367) to which additions were made by Popes Pius II and Paul III.

• The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, together with other Franciscan sites of Assisi, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000. The Franciscan convent and the smaller church and the largest (below bassilica and superior) of San Francisco began to build immediately after the canonization of the church in 1228 and were completed in 1253. The smaller church has frescoes that were restored by the famous medieval artists Cimabue and Giotto. In the older church there are frescoes by Giotto that represent scenes of the life of San Francisco.
• Santa Maria la Mayor (Santa Maria Maggiore) the oldest of the churches that are preserved.
• The Cathedral of San Rufino has a Romanesque facade, three rosettes and an interior of the centuryXVI. It was partly built on a Roman cistern.
• Santa Clara with its countless rosettes and its simple Gothic interior began to be built in 1257 and contains the tomb of the saint and frescoes and paintings of the centuryXIII.
• Santa Maria de los Angeles (Santa Maria degli Angeli) which houses the Porciuncula, is the seventh church of the world in terms of dimensions.

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  Rocca Maggiore

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  Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi

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  San Rufino

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  Church of Santa Clara

Demography

Graphic of demographic evolution of Assisi between 1861 and 2011

Source ISTAT - Wikipedia graphics

World Heritage

"Assisi, the Basilica of Saint Francis and other Franciscan sites" were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000, with two locations:

Fractions

Authorities

• Mayor (syndaco): Stefania Proietti (Independent of Left Centre) since June 19, 2016.

Culture

The weavings of Assisi are peculiar and date back to the 12th century.

Notable people