Page 128 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places

Basilica of St. Francis, Assisi
126 EUROPE

One of the greatest Christian shrines in the Campanile
This was built
world, the Basilica of St. Francis is visited by a in 1239.
vast number of pilgrims throughout the year.
It is the burial place of St. Francis, and building
work began two years after the saint's death
in 1226. Over the following century, its Upper
and Lower churches were decorated by the
foremost artists of the day, among them
A View of the Cimabue, Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti,
Basilica and Friary
For centuries, Assisi has and G iotto, whose frescoes on the Life of St.
been dominated by the Francis are among the most renowned in Italy.
humble figure of St. Francis,
whose followers have filled
the beautiful medieval
hilltown with churches, ~ Upper Church
monasteries, and shrines. The soaring Gothic lines (Gothic
Style, see p.54) of the 13th-century
Upper Church s ymbolize the
heavenly glory of St. Francis.
This style also influenced later
-< Fa~ade
The fa<;ade and its Franciscan churches.
rose window are early
examples of Italian
Gothic architecture.
-< lower Church Choir
Side chapels were created Built in 1501, this
here in the 13th century to features a 13th-
accomnodate the grCMiing cenb.JIY stone
nurrber of pilgrims.
papal throne.

~~=~~~ -< Cappella di San Martino
The frescoes in this chapel on the
Life of St. Martin (131 S) are by the
S ienese painter Simone Martini. This
panel shows the Death of the Saint.
Martini was also responsible for the
fine stained glass in the chapel.

~ Frescoes by
Lorenzetti

Steps to the
Treasury

~ Lower Church
Crypt ~ St Fran<i
This contains the tomb Cimabue's simple
of St. Francis, who was painting (c. 1280)
-< Frescoes by Lorenzetti buried here in 1230. captures the humility
The bold composition of Pietro Lorenzetti's of the revered saint.
The Deposition (1323) is based around the
truncated Cross and focuses the viewer's
attention on the twisted figure of Christ.