The City of Assisi

A town of N central Umbria: 43°03.9N, 12°37.4E. Altitude: 505 m. Population in 2003: 25,600.

[image ALT: A view of a medieval city from maybe 300 meters above it. The city spreads over two hills and the hollow between them, and several castles and churches can be made out. It is a view of Assisi, in Umbria (central Italy), from Mount Subasio.]

A view of the city from the road up Mt. Subasio to St. Francis's hermitage

Assisi is a small town made very rich by St. Francis, the apostle of poverty.

In lieu of a formal summary of her history and monuments, for now the article Assisi (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911) will have to suffice here; but here are the beginnings of a more personal look at her:

[ 2/22/07: 14 churches, 8 pages, 26 photos ]

Between 1994 and 2004, I've taken lots of photographs of the churches of Assisi; at a glacial pace, I'm starting to put them online, and occasionally some text to go with them.

[ 4 pages, 12 photos ]

The Roman remains include a very well preserved temple, traditionally referred to as the "Temple of Minerva"; but there's also an amphitheatre, tombs, inscriptions, a Roman cistern; and a piece of the Forum, made somewhat more striking by being underground.

Frazioni

For historical reasons, Assisi is one of the larger comuni in Umbria, carrying with it from the Middle Ages into modern times a long list of subject towns and hamlets. Many of these places are very small, a few hundred inhabitants if that; as elsewhere in Italy, those that have a certain administrative identity of their own are frazioni of the comune (singular: frazione, literally a "fraction"): a complete list of them follows. I've been thru several of these small places in trains, cars, and buses, but few on foot, so links are likely to be offsite.

Armenzano • Capodacqua • Castelnuovo • Costa di Trex • Colle delle Forche • Eremo delle Carceri • Morra • Palazzo • Paradiso • Passaggio d' Assisi • Petrignano • Pianello • Pieve S. Nicolò • Porziano • Rivotorto • Rocca S. Angelo • S. Damiano • S. Gregorio • S. Maria degli Angeli • S. Maria Lignano • S. Vitale • Sterpeto • Torchiagina • Tordandrea • Tordibetto

Images with borders lead to more information. The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.)

UP TO:

Umbria

Italy

Europe

Gazetteer

Home

SEE
ALSO:

Diary

Monte
Subasio

OFF
SITE:

Assisi:
Official
Site

Assisi Online

AssisiWeb

Franciscan
Tour of Assisi

Umbria Online

D. Vander Velde

Assisi:
Digital Imaging

PagineSi
(with a very
good map
of the town)

PhotoRoma

Umbria.org

Umbria Turismo

PrimItaly

BellaUmbria
(with a good map
of the town)

ParadoxPlace

Heart of Italy
Tours

ArgoNet

Grutti.com

Verde Umbria

Zanetti
Trip Diary

Allan Nelson's
Bike Trips

Jay J. Pulli

Visitalia

Família
Assis Brasil
[Link to a page in Portuguese]

Father Mike's Spot on the Web

360Tuscany.Net

Dr. Richard James

SloopJohnE

Cybercucina
(zipfile of Assisi photos)

Welcome

AssisiCom

2Go

International School of Art

Petrignano:
the Crèche

Other sites: • German crew of volunteers helps rebuild Assisi after the quake • Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel • Farklempt's Page

A page or image on this site is in the public domain only if its URL has a total of one *asterisk.
If the URL has two **asterisks, the item is copyright someone else, and used by permission or fair use.
If the URL has none the item is © Bill Thayer. See my copyright page for details and contact information.