The Basilica in Assisi: What Giotto Actually Did Here

Giotto di Bondone painted the upper basilica in Assisi in the 1290s and the result is one of the decisive moments in Western art: the first time a major painter rendered human figures with psychological weight and spatial depth rather than the flat, formulaic poses of Byzantine convention. Twenty-eight scenes from the life of Francis of Assisi, painted on the nave walls, show people who look like they are thinking, grieving, arguing. Art historians date the beginning of the Italian Renaissance to this room. Most visitors spend about fifteen minutes in it.

The Basilica di San Francesco stands at the western edge of Assisi on a spur of Monte Subasio, and entry to both churches is free. No ticket purchase, though donations are expected and appropriate. The dress code is enforced: shoulders and knees covered, men remove hats. Photography is not permitted inside either church. These rules are posted clearly and the sacristans enforce them.

The Two Churches

The building is two churches stacked vertically on the hillside, sharing a crypt.

The Lower Basilica was built first, between 1228 and 1230, in a Romanesque style with low vaulted ceilings and a dim, contemplative atmosphere. The crypt here holds the tomb of Francis himself, recovered in 1818 after having been hidden for centuries to prevent theft. The tomb is austere: rough stone, minimal decoration. The chapels off the main nave contain frescoes by Cimabue, Pietro Lorenzetti, and Simone Martini alongside earlier work by the workshop of Giotto.

The Upper Basilica was added in the Gothic style with higher ceilings, larger windows, and the natural light that Giotto’s frescoes require to be seen properly. The lower walls carry Giotto’s Francis cycle; the upper walls and ceiling vaults were decorated earlier by Cimabue and others, though earthquake damage in 1997 destroyed several of those upper sections. The Cimabue Crucifixion, partly destroyed in the earthquake, was meticulously restored and is visible again. What remains of the ceiling cycle by Cimabue shows why his reputation was so formidable before Giotto, in the tradition’s own terms, overtook it.

Come early morning, when the tour groups have not yet arrived. The quality of light in the upper church between 08:00 and 09:30 on a clear day is different from midday, when coach tours fill every bench and the atmosphere becomes less contemplative.

The Rest of Assisi

The Eremo delle Carceri, 4 kilometres up Monte Subasio from the town, is the hermitage where Francis and his early followers retreated for solitary prayer. The name means “prisons,” referring to the stone cells used for isolation. The site now houses a small Franciscan monastery and a network of forest paths; the walk up from the town takes about 90 minutes and is one of the better ways to understand why Francis chose to live here.

Santa Maria degli Angeli, in the plain below Assisi, is a massive baroque basilica built around the Porziuncola, the tiny 4th-century chapel where Francis received his vocation and where he died in 1226. The contrast between the enormous exterior church and the miniature interior chapel it was built to protect is genuinely strange and moving.

Where to Eat

Il Posteggio near Piazza del Comune is a reliable local trattoria for Umbrian cuisine: black truffle pasta, wild boar, and a wine list that stays in the region. Prices are honest. Da Costanza, tucked on a side street, is the sort of family-run operation that serves lentil soup and homemade pasta to people who have been coming for thirty years.

The broader Umbrian point: you are in truffle country. Anything with tartufo nero on the menu is worth ordering. The black truffle from Norcia and the surrounding hills is the best in Italy, which is an arguable claim that most food writers would agree with anyway.

Where to Stay

Hotel Alle Carceri occupies a converted building within the medieval walls with views across the Umbrian valley. Locanda del Teatro on Via Metastasio has a rooftop terrace and is centrally positioned. Both are in the range of €100-180 per night in mid-season.

Assisi itself is compact and worth staying in overnight to experience the early mornings before the day-trip crowds arrive from Perugia and Rome. The pilgrimage dimension of the town drops away at night when only actual guests remain.

Getting There

Assisi has its own train station, Assisi Stazione, about 4 km below the hilltop town in the plain. Buses connect the station to the Piazza Matteotti in the town centre. By car from Perugia the drive is 25 km; from Rome about 2.5 hours on the A1 and E45.