The Catholic Pilgrim's Guide to Assisi, Italy

Assisi is the birthplace of St. Francis and St. Clare, making it one of Catholicism's most significant pilgrimage destinations with profound spiritual heritage.

In 1182, in a prosperous merchant's house in this hillside Umbrian town, a boy named Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone was born—though his father, returning from France, would call him Francesco. No one could have imagined that this son of a cloth merchant would one day strip himself naked in the town square, renounce his inheritance before the bishop, and spark a spiritual revolution that would transform Christianity. Today, pilgrims climb these same cobblestoned streets that Francis walked barefoot eight centuries ago, seeking the radical simplicity and joy that made him the most beloved saint in history. Assisi rises dramatically from the fertile Spoleto Valley, its medieval buildings crafted from pale pink and white Subasio limestone that glows golden at sunset. The town cascades down the slopes of Monte Subasio, whose oak and ilex forests sheltered Francis during his years of prayer and penance. Within these ancient walls, the original San Damiano crucifix still hangs in the basilica where Clare of Assisi received the first sisters of her order. In the valley below, the vast basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli protects the tiny Porziuncola chapel—barely larger than a garden shed—where the Franciscan movement was born and where Francis died singing the Canticle of the Creatures. The town's spiritual significance has gained new dimensions in the 21st century. On September 7, 2025, Pope Leo XIV canonized Carlo Acutis, the fifteen-year-old "God's Influencer" whose body now rests in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. More than half a million pilgrims visited his tomb in the months following his canonization, drawn by his message that holiness is possible for teenagers who use their gifts—even computer programming and video games—for God's glory. Assisi has thus become a bridge between medieval sanctity and modern holiness, where pilgrims can venerate both the Poverello who gave up everything and the millennial saint who sanctified everything.

📜 History & Spiritual Significance

Francis Bernardone's conversion began dramatically in 1205 when, praying before a painted Byzantine crucifix in the crumbling chapel of San Damiano, he heard Christ speak: "Francis, go and repair my church, which as you see is falling into ruin." Taking the command literally at first, the young man sold his father's cloth to buy stones for rebuilding. His furious father dragged him before Bishop Guido, demanding the return of his money. What happened next became the defining moment of Franciscan spirituality: Francis stripped off his fine clothes, renounced his inheritance, and declared that henceforth his only father was "Our Father who art in heaven." The bishop wrapped the naked young man in his own cloak—a scene depicted in Giotto's famous fresco cycle in the Upper Basilica. In 1209, Francis heard the Gospel passage commanding the apostles to take nothing for their journey, and recognized his calling. With a handful of companions, he began preaching penance and joy throughout Umbria. Pope Innocent III, reportedly after a dream of Francis holding up the tottering Lateran Basilica, approved the new order's simple rule in 1210. The brothers established themselves at the Porziuncola, a tiny chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels in the woods below Assisi. Clare Offreduccio, a young noblewoman inspired by Francis's preaching, fled her family on Palm Sunday 1212 to join the movement. Francis cut her hair and gave her the rough Franciscan habit at the Porziuncola before establishing her at San Damiano, where she would spend the next forty years in prayer and radical poverty. On September 17, 1224, while praying on the rocky heights of La Verna in the Tuscan Apennines, Francis received the stigmata—the wounds of Christ in his hands, feet, and side. He returned to Assisi nearly blind and in constant pain, yet composed his magnificent Canticle of the Creatures, praising "Brother Sun" and "Sister Moon." He died on October 3, 1226, lying naked on the bare earth at the Porziuncola, singing Psalm 142. Within two years, Pope Gregory IX canonized him and laid the foundation stone for the great basilica that would house his remains. Clare outlived Francis by twenty-seven years, leading her sisters in a life of contemplative poverty so radical that no previous religious rule had permitted it. She became the first woman to write a religious rule approved by the Church. When she died on August 11, 1253, just two days after papal approval of her rule, miracles immediately began at her tomb. Her incorrupt body was discovered in 1850 and now lies in the crypt of the basilica bearing her name, dressed in the same rough habit she wore in life. The newest chapter of Assisi's spiritual story began in 2006 when Carlo Acutis, a fifteen-year-old from Milan who had created websites documenting Eucharistic miracles, died of leukemia. At his request, he was buried in Assisi, the city of the saint he most admired. Beatified in 2020 and canonized on September 7, 2025, by Pope Leo XIV alongside Pier Giorgio Frassati, Carlo has become the patron of young people navigating faith in the digital age. His tomb in the Sanctuary of the Renunciation—the very church where Francis stripped before his father—draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims annually, many of them teenagers who see in him proof that sanctity is possible in their own time.

☩ Pilgrimage Sites in Assisi

Assisi's sacred sites span a vertical mile from the Porziuncola in the valley to the Carceri hermitage on Monte Subasio's slopes. The historic center is compact enough to walk, though the steep cobblestoned streets reward pilgrims who take their time. Most visitors begin at either the Basilica of St. Francis at the western end of town or Piazza del Comune at its heart, working their way between the two along the narrow Via San Francesco.

Basilica Papale di San Francesco d'Assisi

Local Name (Italian): Basilica Papale di San Francesco d'Assisi Address: Piazza Inferiore di San Francesco, 2, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy GPS Coordinates: 43.074741, 12.605570 Google Maps: View on Google Maps Website: https://www.sanfrancescoassisi.org Dedication: St. Francis of Assisi The mother church of the worldwide Franciscan Order rises in two magnificent tiers from a massive supporting arcade. Construction began in 1228, just two years after Francis's death, despite the saint's own wishes for simplicity. The Lower Basilica, dark and intimate, leads pilgrims down to the crypt where Francis's body was hidden for centuries to prevent theft. The frescoes by Cimabue, Pietro Lorenzetti, and Simone Martini transform the space into a meditation on Franciscan poverty, chastity, and obedience. The Upper Basilica soars with light, its walls covered in Giotto's revolutionary twenty-eight-scene cycle depicting Francis's life—from his dream of the palace filled with arms to his death surrounded by brothers. These frescoes, painted around 1300, mark a turning point in Western art, bringing emotional realism and human drama to sacred painting. A devastating earthquake in 1997 collapsed portions of the ceiling, killing four people and destroying priceless frescoes; the painstaking restoration took two years.

Basilica di Santa Chiara

Local Name (Italian): Basilica di Santa Chiara Address: Piazza Santa Chiara, 1, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy GPS Coordinates: 43.069844, 12.616256 Google Maps: View on Google Maps Website: https://www.assisisantachiara.it Dedication: St. Clare of Assisi Built between 1257 and 1265 in the Italian Gothic style, this striped pink-and-white church guards the incorrupt body of St. Clare, visible in a glass casket in the crypt. The original San Damiano crucifix—the one that spoke to Francis—hangs in a chapel to the right of the nave, brought here from San Damiano after Clare's sisters moved to this location. Clare's rough-hewn tunic, her blonde hair cut by Francis himself, and other relics are displayed in the adjacent museum. The piazza before the basilica offers sweeping views across the Spoleto Valley to Monte Subasio, and the church's massive flying buttresses create one of Assisi's most iconic silhouettes against the setting sun.

Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli

Local Name (Italian): Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli e della Porziuncola Address: Piazza della Porziuncola, 1, 06088 Santa Maria degli Angeli PG, Italy GPS Coordinates: 43.056667, 12.579444 Google Maps: View on Google Maps Website: https://www.porziuncola.org Dedication: Our Lady of the Angels This vast Renaissance basilica in the valley below Assisi was built (1569–1679) specifically to shelter the Porziuncola, the tiny ninth-century chapel where Francis founded his order and where he died. The massive dome, visible for miles across the Umbrian plain, marks the spiritual birthplace of the Franciscan movement. Inside, the Porziuncola itself—barely twenty feet long—stands free beneath the towering nave, its rough stones worn smooth by eight centuries of pilgrim hands. Behind the main altar, the Cappella del Transito preserves the infirmary cell where Francis died singing on October 3, 1226. Pilgrims who visit between August 1–2 can obtain the Porziuncola Indulgence (Perdono di Assisi), established by Francis himself after a vision of Christ and the Virgin Mary.

Santuario di San Damiano

Local Name (Italian): Santuario di San Damiano Address: Via San Damiano, 85, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy GPS Coordinates: 43.063889, 12.623611 Google Maps: View on Google Maps Dedication: St. Clare of Assisi This humble stone complex, a fifteen-minute walk downhill from Porta Nuova, was the first church Francis rebuilt with his own hands and the monastery where Clare spent forty years leading her sisters. The tiny chapel where Francis heard Christ's voice retains its austere medieval atmosphere, and the small dormitory where Clare died—with its original wooden floor and simple sleeping alcoves—remains profoundly moving. The peaceful garden contains an ancient olive tree and views across to the plain below. Mass is celebrated daily by the Friars Minor who maintain the sanctuary.

Santuario della Spogliazione (Sanctuary of St. Carlo Acutis)

Local Name (Italian): Chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore – Santuario della Spogliazione Address: Via Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, 6, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy GPS Coordinates: 43.071111, 12.614722 Google Maps: View on Google Maps Website: https://www.assisisancarloacutis.com Dedication: St. Carlo Acutis This ancient church marks where Francis dramatically renounced his inheritance before Bishop Guido—the "spoliation" that gave the sanctuary its name. Since October 2020, it has also housed the tomb of St. Carlo Acutis, the millennial saint canonized on September 7, 2025. Carlo's body, dressed in his signature jeans and sneakers, is visible behind glass in a side altar, his face preserved with a wax mask based on photographs. A new bronze statue by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz, titled "St. Carlo at the Cross" and unveiled on September 5, 2025, depicts the young saint holding a laptop with a chalice on screen. The Diocese of Assisi reported over 500,000 visitors to Carlo's tomb in the first nine months of 2025 alone, with October 12 designated as his feast day.

Eremo delle Carceri

Local Name (Italian): Eremo delle Carceri Address: Via Eremo delle Carceri, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy GPS Coordinates: 43.082500, 12.638889 Google Maps: View on Google Maps Website: https://www.eremocarceri.it Dedication: St. Francis of Assisi This hermitage carved into the rocky slopes of Monte Subasio, four kilometers above Assisi, was Francis's retreat for prayer and contemplation. The name "carceri" (prisons) refers not to dungeons but to the caves and grottoes where Francis and his companions "imprisoned" themselves in solitary prayer. The tiny cave where Francis slept, the ancient holm oak forest where he preached to birds, and the Chasm of the Devil (where he reportedly cast out a demon) retain an atmosphere of profound silence. Pilgrims can walk from Assisi via the Porta Cappuccini (steep, approximately one hour) or take a taxi. The hermitage is still inhabited by Franciscan friars.

Santuario di Rivotorto

Local Name (Italian): Santuario di Rivotorto – Sacro Tugurio Address: Via Santuario di Rivotorto, 77, 06081 Rivotorto PG, Italy GPS Coordinates: 43.045833, 12.610833 Google Maps: View on Google Maps Dedication: St. Francis of Assisi This neo-Gothic church in the valley protects the "Sacro Tugurio" (Holy Hovel)—the humble shack where Francis and his first companions lived from 1208 to 1211, before moving to the Porziuncola. The original structure, barely large enough for the brothers to lie down, demonstrates the radical poverty of early Franciscanism. An inscription marks where Francis once drew a line on the floor to assign each brother his sleeping space.

Cattedrale di San Rufino

Local Name (Italian): Cattedrale di San Rufino Address: Piazza San Rufino, 3, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy GPS Coordinates: 43.071944, 12.618889 Google Maps: View on Google Maps Dedication: St. Rufinus of Assisi Assisi's cathedral, with its magnificent Romanesque façade adorned with carved lions and griffins, is where both Francis and Clare were baptized—the ancient font still stands in the left aisle. The church was built over the tomb of St. Rufinus, the third-century bishop who brought Christianity to Assisi and was martyred by being thrown into the Chiascio River with a millstone around his neck.

🕯️ Annual Feast Days & Celebrations

October 3–4 – Feast of St. Francis of Assisi Basilica of St. Francis. The Transitus service on the evening of October 3rd commemorates Francis's death with readings, Gregorian chant, and the extinguishing of candles. On October 4th, pilgrims from across Italy offer olive oil to keep the votive lamp burning at Francis's tomb—a different Italian region provides the oil each year. August 11 – Feast of St. Clare Basilica of St. Clare. Solemn celebrations honor Clare's death with processions and Masses, while the Poor Clares who continue her legacy pray behind their enclosure grilles throughout the day. August 1–2 – Perdono di Assisi (Porziuncola Pardon) Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Pilgrims can obtain a plenary indulgence by visiting the Porziuncola chapel during these days, a privilege granted to Francis by Pope Honorius III in 1216 after Francis's vision of Christ and the Virgin Mary. October 12 – Feast of St. Carlo Acutis Sanctuary of the Renunciation. The newly canonized saint's first feast day was celebrated in 2025 with Cardinal Pietro Parolin presiding at Mass. Expect large crowds of young people and families.

🛏️ Where to Stay

St. Anthony's Guest House 📍 Address: Via Galeazzo Alessi, 10, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy 🌐 Website: https://graymoor.org/italy/ Run by the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement (locally called "le suore Americane"), this beloved pilgrim guesthouse sits between the Basilica of St. Clare and the Cathedral. Simple rooms with spectacular views across the valley, communal breakfast in a 12th-century vaulted dining room, peaceful garden with olive trees, and a chapel with the Blessed Sacrament. Closed mid-November through February. Casa di Spiritualità Sacri Cuori 📍 Address: Via San Paolo, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy Religious guesthouse with rooms overlooking Assisi or Santa Maria degli Angeli. Open year-round with simple accommodations suitable for pilgrims seeking quiet reflection. Domus Pacis Santa Maria degli Angeli 📍 Address: Piazza Porziuncola, 06088 Santa Maria degli Angeli PG, Italy 🌐 Website: https://www.ospitalitadiocesana.com Diocesan pilgrim house near the Porziuncola basilica, ideal for those arriving by train. Conference facilities available for groups. Hotel Subasio ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 📍 Address: Via Frate Elia, 2, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy 🔗 Booking: Book on Booking.com Historic four-star hotel adjacent to the Basilica of St. Francis with terrace dining overlooking the Umbrian plain. Charlie Chaplin and other celebrities have stayed here. Nun Assisi Relais & Spa Museum ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 📍 Address: Via Eremo delle Carceri, 1A, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy 🔗 Booking: Book on Booking.com Luxury hotel in a restored 13th-century convent with spa facilities, for pilgrims seeking comfort after their spiritual journey.

🚗 Getting There

By Air The nearest airport is Perugia San Francesco d'Assisi Airport (PEG), 15 minutes by taxi (approximately €45). The Umbria Airlink bus service connects the airport to Assisi train station (€5, coordinated with flight schedules). Most international visitors arrive at Rome Fiumicino (FCO), approximately 2.5–3 hours by train via Roma Termini. By Train Assisi station (Piazza Dante Alighieri) lies in the valley about 4 kilometers from the historic center. Direct regional trains run from Rome Termini (approximately 2 hours, €12–15); some services require a change at Foligno. From Florence, change at Terontola or Foligno (approximately 2–2.5 hours). From the station, Line C bus climbs to the historic center (€1.30, buy tickets at the station newsstand). Taxis cost €12–20 depending on luggage. The bus stops at Piazza Unità d'Italia near the Basilica of St. Francis and terminates at Piazza Matteotti near the Cathedral. By Car From the A1 Autostrada (Florence–Rome), exit at Valdichiana and follow signs to Perugia/Assisi via the E45. From the A14 Adriatic highway, exit at Cesena or Fano and follow the E78/E45 to Perugia. Limited traffic zones (ZTL) restrict access to the historic center; use the parking garages at Piazza Matteotti (underground, convenient for the Cathedral) or Porta Nuova. On Foot Many pilgrims arrive via the Via di Francesco (St. Francis' Way), a 550-kilometer walking route from Florence through La Verna and Gubbio to Assisi, or the southern route from Rome. The final stage from Valfabbrica to Assisi follows wooded paths and country roads.

📚 Further Reading

Books:

  • Augustine Thompson, Francis of Assisi: A New Biography (Cornell University Press) – Scholarly yet accessible account drawing on original 13th-century sources.
  • Courtney Mares, Blessed Carlo Acutis: A Saint in Sneakers (Ignatius Press) – Biography of the millennial saint written by a Rome correspondent for Catholic News Agency.
  • Marco Bartoli, Saint Clare: Beyond the Legend (Franciscan Press) – The definitive modern biography of Clare of Assisi.
  • Paul Moses, The Saint and the Sultan (Doubleday) – Francis's remarkable 1219 meeting with Sultan al-Kamil during the Fifth Crusade.

Articles & Online Resources:

🎥 Recommended Videos

🔗 Useful Links

✝️ Closing Reflection

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

— St. Francis of Assisi

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For the most current Mass schedules, opening hours, and pilgrimage resources, contact the Diocese of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino or the individual sanctuaries directly. Pilgrims are advised to book accommodations well in advance, especially during October (Feast of St. Francis), August (Porziuncola Pardon), and major celebrations connected to St. Carlo Acutis.