Assisi

Assisi rises on the slopes of Monte Subasio in Umbria. The Roman town of Asisium left walls, a forum and a temple of Minerva, while the medieval city became known throughout Christendom as the home of Saint Francis and Saint Clare. The basilica built for Francis after his canonization houses frescoes and the Franciscan convent.

Assisi suffered severely from the Black Death in 1348. Its hilltop fortress, the Rocca Maggiore, was rebuilt in 1367 on the orders of Cardinal Albornoz, the papal legate. The city passed through the hands of Perugia and several rulers, among them the Visconti and the Sforza, before returning to papal jurisdiction under Pius II in the fifteenth century. Pilgrims continued to visit the places associated with Francis and Clare.