Italy's Assisi & Northwestern Umbria (Unabridged‪)‬

Beautifully situated in the medieval heart of Umbria, Assisi is one of the most popular sightseeing and pilgrimage destinations in Italy. Not only does it have a historical center of distinguished monuments, collections of art, and breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside but it sits on the doorstep of the Parco Regionale Monte Subasio (Mt. Subasio Regional Park). It is also tied with the legacy of its best-known son, St. Francis.

While the ancient Umbrian city of Asisum left a priceless legacy of Etruscan and Roman structures, it was the town's most famous monk who transformed Assisi into a site of immense architectural and artistic importance. Many of the greats of the high Middle Ages and the Renaissance were drawn to Assisi from all over Italy, and outstanding works of Umbrian painting and sculpture adorn every church, cathedral, and palace.

Basilica di San Francesco e Sacro Convento is the city's undisputed jewel, located west of the historical center. Built just after the death of St. Francis in 1228, it comprises two churches - one built above the other - and a crypt dug in 1818 to house the saint's tomb. Entered via a courtyard built by Pope Sixtus IV with magnificent views of the surrounding countryside, the dark lower church has striking late Romanesque vaulting and frescoes by some of the greatest painters of the 13th and 14th centuries, including Cimabue, the Lorenzetti brothers, and Simone Martini; the upper church is Italy's earliest Gothic church and is decorated with Giotto's famous cycle of 28 frescoes telling the stories and legends of the life of St. Francis.