Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

The Story

The Papal Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, located in Assisi in the Italian region of Umbria, is one of the Catholic Church’s most important pilgrimage destinations. Built to honor Saint Francis of Assisi and preserve his remains, the basilica is both the spiritual center of the Franciscan family and one of the most influential monuments of medieval Christian art and architecture. Saint Francis was born in Assisi around 1181 or 1182 into the prosperous family of Pietro di Bernardone, a cloth merchant. As a young man, Francis enjoyed a comfortable and socially ambitious life and dreamed of military glory. His experience of war, imprisonment, illness and prayer gradually changed his priorities and led him to seek God’s purpose for his life. An important stage in his conversion occurred as he prayed before the crucifix in the neglected church of San Damiano. Francis believed he heard Christ tell him to repair his Church. He initially responded by rebuilding abandoned chapels, but eventually understood the command as a broader call to renew the Church through faithful living of the Gospel. He renounced his family’s wealth, embraced a life of poverty and began serving people who were poor, sick or excluded, particularly those suffering from leprosy. Other men were drawn to his example, and Francis formed a community devoted to following Jesus through poverty, chastity, obedience, prayer, preaching and service. Pope Innocent III gave initial approval to the Franciscan way of life in 1209, and Pope Honorius III formally confirmed the Franciscan Rule in 1223. Francis also worked with Saint Clare of Assisi in the development of the community that became the Poor Clares, while a third Franciscan tradition allowed laypeople to follow Franciscan spirituality within family and professional life. Francis sought to imitate Christ with great simplicity and devotion. In 1223, he arranged the Christmas celebration at Greccio that became associated with the tradition of the living Nativity scene. He also traveled during the Crusades and was peacefully received by the Muslim Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil, an encounter remembered as an example of courageous dialogue and respect across religious divisions. In 1224, Francis reportedly received the stigmata, wounds corresponding to those of the crucified Christ. Francis was also known for seeing creation as a gift that leads humanity toward praise of its Creator. His Canticle of the Creatures, also called the Canticle of Brother Sun, praises God through the sun, moon, water, fire, earth and all creation. The work is among the earliest major poetic texts written in an Italian vernacular and expresses Francis’s belief that human beings and the created world belong to one family under God. Francis died near the small chapel of the Porziuncola on the evening of October 3, 1226, at approximately forty-four years of age. Pope Gregory IX canonized him less than two years later in 1228. His liturgical feast is celebrated on October 4, and he is honored as the founder of the Franciscan movement, a patron saint of Italy and an enduring witness to peace, humility, care for the poor and responsible care for creation. Pope Gregory IX commissioned the Basilica of Saint Francis as a special papal church in April 1228. Construction began shortly after Francis’s canonization, and his remains were solemnly transferred to the completed Lower Church in 1230. The Upper Church was completed and consecrated during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IV in 1253. The adjoining Sacro Convento was built to house the Franciscan friars responsible for the liturgical and pastoral care of the basilica and the saint’s tomb. The basilica is formed by two churches built one above the other. The Lower Church has a darker, more intimate atmosphere and combines Romanesque architecture with richly decorated chapels and frescoes. It leads to the crypt containing the tomb of Saint Francis, where his simple stone sarcophagus is surrounded by the remains of several of his earliest companions. The tomb remains the spiritual heart of the basilica and a place of silent prayer for pilgrims from around the world. The Upper Church is brighter and more spacious, with soaring Gothic architecture, stained-glass windows and extensive fresco cycles. The basilica contains works associated with some of the most important artists of medieval Italy, including Cimabue, Giotto, Pietro Lorenzetti and Simone Martini. Scenes from Scripture and the life of Saint Francis were intended not merely as decoration, but as visual teaching that helps pilgrims contemplate the Gospel and understand the saint’s life as an imitation of Christ. In 2000, the Basilica of Saint Francis, together with Assisi and several surrounding Franciscan sites, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. UNESCO recognizes the basilica as an outstanding architectural complex and describes Assisi as a major center for the development of Italian and European art, Franciscan spirituality and the universal message of peace and fraternity. The basilica’s spiritual importance extends beyond its historic architecture and art. It preserves the memory of a man who believed that the Gospel should be lived concretely through simplicity, mercy, forgiveness, service and love of Christ. Pilgrims come to pray at Francis’s tomb, celebrate Mass, receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and reflect on their own response to the Gospel. The Basilica of Saint Francis ultimately directs attention beyond Francis himself toward Jesus Christ, whom Francis sought to imitate throughout his life. Its message invites visitors to repair what is broken, care for those who are forgotten, seek peace rather than conflict, recognize creation as God’s gift and live with greater humility, joy and trust in God.

Church Recognition

The Basilica of St. Francis is a papal basilica placed under the special protection of the Holy See since its foundation by Pope Gregory IX in 1228, the same pope who canonized St. Francis that year. Together with other Franciscan sites of Assisi it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000, and St. Francis was declared a patron saint of Italy.

Catholic Teaching

The basilica embodies the Church's teaching on the communion of saints (CCC 946–962) and the veneration of the saints' remains (CCC 1674), while St. Francis's life points to the Gospel call to poverty, peace, and care for creation later echoed in Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato si'.

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Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

The Papal Basilica holds the tomb of St. Francis in its crypt; the upper and lower churches are famed for their frescoes.

Go Deeper

Visit the basilica's official website at https://www.sanfrancescoassisi.org, and read the early lives of the saint by Thomas of Celano and St. Bonaventure, St. Francis's own Canticle of the Creatures, and CCC 946–962 on the communion of saints.