My Journey

Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi

The papal basilica raised over the tomb of Saint Francis and the cradle of Franciscan veneration.

Location
Assisi, Italy 43.0747° N · 12.6053° E
Type
Papal basilica and Franciscan Sacred Convent Italian Gothic, with a Romanesque lower church and a soaring upper church
Dedication
Saint Francis of Assisi
Time Needed
1 hour to half a day
Why Go

The Tomb of Francis at the Heart of Assisi

The crypt and the tomb of Saint Francis are the reason pilgrims walk the long piazza. Above them, the basilica stands as the foundational shrine of the Franciscan movement and one of the great visual narratives of a saint's life in Western art.

A Basilica Built Around a Tomb

Saint Francis died at the Portiuncula in 1226 and was canonized two years later. Pope Gregory IX laid the foundation stone of this basilica on the day after the canonization, on a hillside Francis himself had called the Collis Inferni, the hill of the condemned, which he asked to be renamed the Collis Paradisi. The lower church was consecrated in 1230; the upper church and the full complex were consecrated in 1253.

The lower basilica is a low Romanesque-Gothic hall designed for prayer at the tomb, with a darkness that draws attention toward the altars. The upper basilica is one of the earliest Italian Gothic churches, raised as a vessel for the great fresco cycle of the life of Saint Francis traditionally attributed to Giotto, with earlier work by Cimabue and contemporary work by Pietro Lorenzetti and Simone Martini.

Read the Place

A tomb church before an art site.

Begin with the tomb

The crypt is not one feature among many. It is the reason the basilica and the Franciscan pilgrimage gather here.

Read two churches as one

The lower basilica draws the visit down into prayer; the upper basilica opens the story of Francis in light and fresco.

Let the frescoes teach

The painted cycles are not decoration around a saint. They carry the Franciscan story from conversion to witness.

Read the basilica as a pilgrimage built around a tomb: the hill, the convent, the two churches, and the crypt all gather toward Francis.

The double basilica was begun shortly after Francis's canonization in 1228 and consecrated in 1253.

His tomb was deliberately hidden in the 15th century and only located again in 1818.

The Custody of the Sacred Convent has cared for the basilica without interruption since the 13th century.

The complex has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.

Spiritual Significance

Spiritual Significance

The basilica is not a museum. It is a working Franciscan church and a place of continuous pilgrim prayer at the tomb of Francis. Approach it that way: pray first, look later.

Do Not Miss · 4 stops

Do Not Miss

  1. The crypt

    Where Saint Francis is buried with four of his earliest brothers. The natural first stop.

  2. The Giotto cycle in the upper basilica

    Twenty-eight scenes drawing the life of Francis around the nave.

  3. The Cimabue Crucifixion in the lower transept

    One of the earliest and most powerful images of Francis, painted within a generation of his death.

  4. The reliquary chapel

    Holds the tunic, chalice, and personal items traditionally associated with Francis.

What to notice
  • The deliberate descent from the upper basilica to the lower basilica to the crypt: the architecture pulls pilgrims toward the tomb.
  • The four companions buried at the corners of the crypt, marking out the first Franciscan brotherhood around their founder.
  • How the Giotto cycle reads Francis's life as a continuous conversion rather than a sequence of miracles.
  • The Lorenzetti Crucifixion, which places Francis at the foot of the cross and reads his life as a participation in Christ's passion.
Visit Plans · 2 plans · add to a journey

Visit Plans

  • Duration 60 minutes Best for First-time pilgrims who want the tomb of Francis at the center of the visit.

    A First Prayer Visit

    4 ordered stops

    A direct route from the entrance to the crypt and back through the fresco cycles.

    1. Enter through the lower basilica.
    2. Descend to the crypt and pray at the tomb of Saint Francis.
    3. Return upstairs and walk the lower transept to read the Cimabue and Lorenzetti frescoes.
    4. Climb to the upper basilica and follow the Giotto cycle around the nave.
  • Duration Half day Best for Pilgrims with a morning or afternoon in Assisi.

    Francis, Clare, and the Old Town

    4 ordered stops

    Pair the basilica with the parish church of Francis's baptism and the tomb of Clare.

    1. Begin at the Basilica of Saint Francis.
    2. Walk the medieval spine of the old town to the Cathedral of San Rufino.
    3. Continue to the Basilica of Saint Clare and the original San Damiano crucifix.
    4. Return to the basilica for Vespers or a final prayer at the tomb.

Pray at the tomb first, then read the life of Francis in the frescoes. The basilica works best when the visit moves from devotion to looking, not the other way around.

How to Visit

How to Visit

Begin in the lower basilica and walk straight to the crypt. Pray at the tomb before returning upstairs. From the lower basilica, move through the transepts to read the Lorenzetti and Cimabue frescoes, then climb to the upper basilica and follow the Giotto cycle around the nave. Allow time for silence; the basilica strictly enforces it.

  • Daily Mass in the upper and lower basilicas
  • Sacrament of Reconciliation in many languages
  • Vespers and conventual prayer with the Franciscan community
  • Continuous pilgrim prayer at the tomb in the crypt

When to come

Pilgrimage dates

Dates that meaningfully change the experience of this place.

  1. October 4 In 13 days

    Saint Francis of Assisi

    Feast · Universal Roman Calendar

    Why go

    The basilica built over his tomb keeps the solemn celebration in the Upper Church, with the Italian state represented and the liturgy broadcast nationally. The Transitus is kept the evening before, which is the quieter and in many ways the more particular of the two.

    What changes

    • Considerably larger crowds
    • Special liturgy
    • Altered access

    Spiritually the fullest day here, and not the one to choose if you want a quiet visit.

  2. Running now, until January 10

    The Year of Saint Francis

    Universal, by papal proclamation

    Why go

    Assisi is where the centenary is kept most closely, and the basilica over his tomb is its center. Through the Jubilee Year the plenary indulgence is offered here on the Church's ordinary conditions, and the crypt draws pilgrimage numbers well above an ordinary year. What is offered is a grace, on those conditions, rather than something the journey itself secures.

    What changes

    • Considerably larger crowds
    • Special liturgy
    • Rites kept only then

Details vary by year. Check the official source (opens in a new tab) and here (opens in a new tab).

Planning your visit · reviewed September 14, 2026

The basilica stays open through midday; the crypt keeps its own hours.

The Sacro Convento publishes current hours for the lower basilica, the upper basilica and the crypt separately, and they are not the same. This is one of the few churches in Assisi that does not close in the middle of the day. Check the custodians' page before you plan the day around it.

Time needed
Ninety minutes at least; closer to two hours if you give the upper church its frescoes.
Getting there
The western edge of the old town, at Piazza San Francesco. Steep, stepped streets from the rest of Assisi.
Best time
First thing, when the doors open. The crypt is quietest in the first hour and busiest around the middle of the day.
Open through the middle of the day
Unlike most churches in Assisi, the basilica does not close at midday, which makes it the one dependable place to be when the rest of the town shuts.
  • The custodians list the lower basilica as closing earlier on Wednesdays than on other days.
The three levels close at different times
The custodians publish separate hours for the lower basilica, the upper basilica and the crypt, and the crypt closes before the churches above it.
  • Do not assume that entry to the basilica still means entry to the tomb late in the day.
A late hour at the tomb on Friday and Saturday
The Sacro Convento lists the crypt as opening again late on Friday and Saturday evenings for personal prayer.
  • This is the quietest the tomb gets. Confirm the current evening arrangement on the basilica's hours page before relying on it.
Silence is asked for, and kept
This is a working Franciscan church raised over a tomb, not a museum. Silence is requested inside and enforced in the crypt.
Additional schedule notes

Stairs between the levels

The upper and lower basilicas and the crypt are connected by stairs and slopes.

  • Verify the current step-free route with the custodians before relying on it.

Groups and celebrations

Groups book in advance

The Sacro Convento runs a reservations portal for organised visits, celebrations and choirs.

Relics, Tombs, Sacred Objects

Relics, Tombs, Sacred Objects

Tomb of Saint Francis

Saint's tomb

Yes, at the tomb in the crypt

Sacred Convent of Assisi
Documented

Burial traditionally venerated here since the 13th century; the hidden tomb was located again beneath the lower basilica in 1818

Tombs of four early companions

Companions' tombs

Yes, in the crypt

Sacred Convent of Assisi
Documented

Brother Leo, Rufino, Angelo, and Masseo are venerated at the corners of the crypt around Francis

Relics traditionally associated with Saint Francis

Personal relics, traditional attribution

Yes, in the reliquary chapel of the lower basilica

Sacred Convent of Assisi tradition
Traditional

The tunic, chalice, and paten are venerated as Francis's by long Franciscan tradition rather than presented as documented beyond dispute

Source note Traditional attributions are presented as tradition, with documentation named where it exists.

Connected Saints

Connected Saints

Saint Francis of Assisi Tomb of Saint Francis The papal basilica built over Francis's tomb, the primary place of public veneration. Saint Clare of Assisi The basilica of Francis The papal basilica at the western edge of the old town, raised over the tomb of Francis. Clare's basilica and Francis's anchor the two ends of the medieval city.
Continue Your Pilgrimage · Continue the Assisi day

Continue Your Pilgrimage

Sacred Geography

How Assisi gathers around Francis and Clare

Place and memory

The Basilica of Saint Francis is not only the burial church of one saint. It is where Assisi's Franciscan memory, the lives of Francis and Clare, the tomb tradition, and the hill town's wider sacred geography meet. These are the connections that hold that ground together.

Franciscan tradition, public veneration, and official basilica context are distinct. The tomb of Saint Francis is traditionally venerated as his burial place and was rediscovered beneath the basilica in 1818; Saint Clare is remembered here with Francis, though her body rests at the Basilica of Saint Clare. These connections help explain how the basilica fits into a wider Assisi pilgrimage.

Map · Assisi, Italy

Map

Editorial sources

Photography is not permitted inside the basilicas. Silence is strictly enforced. The Sacred Convent is a living Franciscan community.

Official

sanfrancescoassisi.org

Last reviewed

Pending review.

Photo credits
  1. Hero. Basilica di San Francesco d'Assisi, Assisi, Italy. Christoph Strässler / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Source. CC BY-SA 2.0.
  2. Detail. Stifone / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source. CC BY-SA 4.0.