Assisi tour: San Damiano, Hermitage and Basilica of St Mary of the Angels.
This tour is conducted by car.
San Damiano is a church and monastery located on the outskirts of Assisi. It is the first monastery of the Clariscan order, founded by St Clara, a follower of St Francis. Before that it housed a small Benedictine hermitage, the first mention of which dates back to 1030.
The young Francis very often went there to pray in front of an antique crucifix. In 1206, according to legend, here he heard the voice of God: “Go Francis, and endeavour to repair my house, do you not see that it is ruined?” At first he did not understand what he was supposed to do and specifically repaired the church, not realising that Christ was speaking of the Church as a whole. During the renovation, the first group of future Franciscans was formed.
In 1212, St Clara and her followers settled in San Damiano – they lived here until 1260, after which they moved to the present monastery of the Clariscan order. St Clara died here in 1253.
Before the church of San Damiano you can see a covered gallery. On the right stands the chapel of San Girolamo with frescoes by Tiberio d’Alessi, a pupil of Perugino, done between 1517 and 1522. The single-nave church has a vaulted ceiling and an apse, also decorated with frescoes from the early fourteenth century. The crucifix over the high altar is an exact copy of the one in the Basilica of Santa Clara today. The wooden seats in the choir date from the early 16th century. On the right, a small passage leads through the room with the Crucifixion by Pier Antonio Mezzastris to the garden of St Clara and the living quarters of the convent. In the cloister you can see frescoes by Eusebio da San Giorgio (1507) depicting the “Stigmata of St Francis” and the “Annunciation”, while the refectory is decorated with poorly preserved frescoes by Dono Doni.
The Hermitage of Carceri was built in the 15th century and is located on a mountain in the forest. The small monastery grew where there were grottoes that had previously served as a place of solitude for hermits. Francis and his brothers in the faith loved this place. A visit to Carceri gives an idea of what contemplation and meditation mean.
The Basilica of St Mary of the Angels was built by Pope Pius V to house the small chapel of Porziuncula. It is still housed inside this basilica today. Around Porziuncula, right in the forest, St Francis lived with his brothers in faith.
The basilica originally belonged to the Benedictine monastery of San Benedetto, and Francis received it on “lease” from Abbot Theobald. Every year the monks gave one basket full of fish for it!
The temple is one of the largest in the world: it is 116 metres long and 65 metres wide. The gigantic classical-style dome rises amid the Umbrian fields.
Inside is the Transito chapel, where Francis died in 1226, and the rose garden, where thornless roses have been growing ever since.
