My Journey

Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi

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

ITALY · ASSISI 43.0747° N · 12.6053° E
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

Come here to pray at the tomb of Saint Francis. The basilica is also the foundational shrine of the Franciscan movement and one of the great visual narratives of a saint's life in Western art, but the crypt is the reason pilgrims walk the long piazza.

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

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

What to notice.

  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 · 3 plans

How much time, and what to do with it.

  • Duration 1 Hour

    Enter the lower basilica, descend to the crypt to pray at the tomb of Francis, then walk the upper basilica and the Giotto cycle on the way out.

  • Duration 2 Hours

    Add the reliquary chapel and the Cimabue and Lorenzetti frescoes in the lower transepts. Sit briefly in either basilica before leaving.

  • Duration Half Day

    Pair the basilica with the Cathedral of San Rufino, the parish church of Francis's baptism, and end at the Basilica of Saint Clare on the other side of the old town.

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

Entering as a pilgrim, not a tourist.

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
Relics, Tombs, Sacred Objects

What pilgrims come to venerate here.

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

How this place gathers the 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

Within walking distance.

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

Plan around this place.

Editorial sources

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

Official

sanfrancescoassisi.org

Image credits
All photography credits
Last reviewed

Pending review.