Copy of the San Damiano Crucifix
Devotional crucifix, faithful copyYes, above the small altar of the church
Sanctuary of San Damiano · Sacred Convent of AssisiSan Damiano
The quiet church and cloister where the call of Saint Francis and the enclosed life of Saint Clare took shape.
ITALY · ASSISI
43.0612° N · 12.6258° E
- Location
- Assisi, Italy 43.0612° N · 12.6258° E
- Type
- Sanctuary church and early Poor Clare cloister Small Romanesque church with a 13th-century cloister and refectory of the Poor Clares
- Dedication
- Saint Damian, with the church and cloister of the early Poor Clares
- Time Needed
- 1 hour to half a day Allow time for the walk down from Porta Nuova
Why Go
Where Francis Listened and Clare Stayed
Come here for the place rather than for an object. The original San Damiano Crucifix is preserved in the Basilica of Saint Clare in the old town. San Damiano itself is where the encounter is traditionally located and where Clare and her sisters lived a hidden enclosed life for more than forty years.
A Small Church Rebuilt and Made a Home
San Damiano was a small abandoned church when Francis, after his conversion, began to repair it with his own hands and stones he gathered or begged in the town above. The early Franciscan sources connect this work to the call he is traditionally said to have heard from the painted crucifix in the church. The site became Clare's at the end of 1212. After Francis received her into religious life at the Porziuncola on Palm Sunday of that year, and after brief stays at two other convents while her family tried to retrieve her, Clare settled at San Damiano with her first companions. Her younger sister Catherine, Saint Agnes of Assisi, joined her within months. Clare remained here for forty-one years. The community moved up to the new basilica in 1260, seven years after her death, taking her body and the original crucifix with them.
The church is a small Romanesque stone building with a single nave and a low choir behind the altar. The 13th-century cloister, refectory, and dormitory of the Poor Clares survive almost intact, kept at the same modest scale as the first community. The garden behind the cloister opens toward the Umbrian plain.
Francis, around 1205 or 1206, is traditionally said to have heard Christ speak from the crucifix in this church and to have begun rebuilding it with his own hands.
Clare arrived at San Damiano in 1212 after Francis received her into religious life at the Porziuncola, and lived here in enclosure until her death in 1253.
Saint Agnes of Assisi joined her sister Clare here a few weeks after her arrival.
The community moved to the new Basilica of Saint Clare in 1260, taking the original crucifix and Clare's body with them.
San Damiano has been in the continuous custody of the Conventual Franciscans since the 13th century.
Spiritual Significance
San Damiano is not a relic site. It is the place the relics came from.
San Damiano is one of the quieter destinations in Assisi and is best approached as a place of silence and slow attention. The custody of the Conventual Franciscans keeps it as a place of prayer rather than as a museum.
What to notice.
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The church and the copy of the San Damiano Crucifix
The original is in the Basilica of Saint Clare; the copy here is hung where the original once was.
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The Poor Clare choir behind the altar
The small enclosed space with the wooden stalls of the first community.
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The refectory of the early Poor Clares
Preserved with the seats of Clare and Saint Agnes of Assisi indicated.
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The garden behind the apse
Traditionally associated with the composition of the Canticle of the Creatures in 1225.
What to notice
- How small everything is. The choir, the refectory, and the dormitory are kept at the scale Clare and her sisters actually lived.
- That the most important object here is preserved elsewhere. San Damiano is a place rather than a relic site.
- How the building still functions as a sanctuary rather than as a museum, with daily prayer and Mass.
- The view from the garden over the Umbrian plain, which Francis would have known when he composed the Canticle of the Creatures.
How much time, and what to do with it.
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Church and choir
3 ordered stopsWalk down from Porta Nuova, pray in the church before the copy of the crucifix, and step into the enclosed choir of the first Poor Clares behind the altar before climbing back to the town.
- Walk down through Porta Nuova
- Pray before the copy of the San Damiano Crucifix
- The choir of the first Poor Clares
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The whole sanctuary
4 ordered stopsAs above, plus the refectory and dormitory of the early community and a quiet pause in the garden behind the apse, where most of the Canticle of the Creatures was composed.
- Church and copy of the crucifix
- Choir of the first Poor Clares
- Refectory and dormitory
- Garden of the Canticle behind the apse
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San Damiano and the Basilica of Saint Clare
4 ordered stopsPair the place Clare actually lived with the basilica that now holds her body and the original crucifix. Walk back up into the old town and end at the Cathedral of San Rufino, where she was baptized.
- San Damiano church, cloister, and garden
- Walk up through Porta Nuova
- Basilica of Saint Clare: tomb and original crucifix
- Cathedral of San Rufino
Walk down to San Damiano in the late morning or early evening, when the path is quiet and the Umbrian light is soft. The site only opens fully if it is approached slowly and in silence.
How to Visit
Entering as a pilgrim, not a tourist.
Walk down from the southern gate of Assisi. Enter the church first and pray before the copy of the crucifix. Step into the small choir behind the altar where Clare and her sisters prayed. Continue into the cloister, the refectory, and the early dormitory above. End in the garden behind the apse, where Francis is traditionally said to have composed most of the Canticle of the Creatures.
- Getting Down San Damiano sits below the old town. Walk out through Porta Nuova on the southern wall and follow the lane downhill through olive groves; allow about fifteen minutes each way. The descent is part of the visit.
- Where to Begin Enter the small church first and pray before the copy of the San Damiano Crucifix, hung where the original once was. The original is now at the Basilica of Saint Clare in the town above.
- Where to Pause Step into the enclosed choir behind the altar, then the refectory of the first community. These rooms are kept at the scale Clare and her sisters actually lived, and they reward stillness more than inspection.
- The Garden End in the garden behind the apse, traditionally associated with the composition of most of the Canticle of the Creatures in 1225. The view over the Umbrian plain is the one Francis would have known.
- Silence and Dress Strict silence is observed throughout the complex. Shoulders and knees covered. Photography is permitted with restraint in the cloister and garden, but not inside the church or the choir.
- Hours and Custody San Damiano is a living sanctuary in the custody of the Conventual Franciscans, with daily Mass and a midday closure. Confirm current hours on the official sanctuary site before walking down.
What pilgrims come to venerate here.
Choir of the first Poor Clares
Preserved monastic spaceOpen to quiet prayer
Sanctuary of San DamianoRefectory of the early community
Preserved monastic spaceVisited as part of the cloister
Sanctuary of San DamianoGarden of the Canticle of the Creatures
Site of traditionA place of silence behind the apse
Early Franciscan sources · Sanctuary traditionSource note Traditional attributions are presented as tradition, with documentation named where it exists.
How this place gathers the saints.
Saint Clare of Assisi
The place she actually lived
The small church and cloister below the southern walls of Assisi, where Clare and her first sisters lived in enclosure from 1212 until her death in 1253.
Saint Francis of Assisi
Repair and conversion
The church where Francis is traditionally said to have heard Christ call him to repair the Church, and later the home of Clare and the Poor Clares.
Within walking distance.
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City hub
Assisi
Where this church sits within the wider Catholic geography of Assisi.
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Sacred place
Basilica of Saint Clare
The basilica in the old town that holds the tomb of Clare and the original San Damiano Crucifix from this church.
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Sacred place
Basilica of Saint Francis
The papal basilica at the western edge of the old town, raised over the tomb of Saint Francis.
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Sacred place
Porziuncola at Santa Maria degli Angeli
The small chapel in the plain below where Francis received Clare into religious life before she withdrew to San Damiano.
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Sacred place
Eremo delle Carceri
The Franciscan hermitage on Mount Subasio above Assisi. The other quiet site in the cluster: outward to the woods to balance Clare's inward enclosure here.
Plan around this place.
Editorial sources
The cross that hangs above the altar at San Damiano today is a faithful copy. The original 12th-century crucifix has been preserved in the Basilica of Saint Clare in the old town since the Poor Clare community moved there in 1260.
Official
Image credits
All photography credits
Last reviewed
Pending review.