Assisi

Assisi (classic Asisium), a town of Italy, in the province of Perugia, about 13 miles from the capital of the same name. There are a few remains of ancient buildings, notably the ruins of a temple of Minerva, that form the portico of the Church of Santa Maria de Minerva. The chief interest of the place centres, however, in the Sacro Convento, where St. Francis founded the Franciscan order of mendicant monks. This building dates from 1230, and is still the resort of many pilgrims. It has two Gothic churches, one above the other; in a crypt beneath lie the relics of the saint.