THE TEMPLE OF MINERVA IN the town of Assisi, in Umbria, appears to be a perfectly preserved example of a Roman temple from the outside, but inside is home to a Catholic church. The Roman building was named during the 1st-century BCE, probably as part of the town’s forum. The structure is a typical Roman temple with six tall Corinthians columns supp...

Over the Christmas season the Umbrian town of Assisi will project images of Giotto's Nativity frescoes onto the façade of the Basilica of S. Francesco, each evening from 6 December. Titled Il Natale di Francesco (The Christmas of Francis), the project will beam Giotto's Nativity scenes onto the exterior of the basilica dedicated to Italy's patron s...

Located in central Italy, in the region of Umbria, Assisi is the birthplace of St. Francis, patron saint of Italy. Since Francis was canonized in 1228, only two years after his death, Assisi has been closely associated with the cult and diffusion of the Franciscan movement in the world, and its universal message of peace and tolerance.  Assisi has...

Peace, universal love, respect for the natural world… Francis of Assisi, the “first environmentalist”, is the sort of saint whose teachings even the most ardent secularist couldn’t object to. His celebration of simplicity and rejection of material possessions also chime with today’s distaste for heedless consumerism. Nearly 800 years after Francis...

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of San Francisco and Assisi joining together as Sister Cities, and the 800th anniversary of Saint Francis’s visit to the Holy Land, Maestro Cosimo Prontera will offer two organ concerts, in San Francisco and in San Jose. With the support of the Consulate General of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute of San Fr...

Assisi is a comune and town located in the Umbria region in Italy in the province of Perugia. The town is located on the west of Monte Subasio and is mainly famous as the birth place of St. Francis. St. Francis had started the Franciscan religious order in Assisi in 1208. St. Clare was also born in the town. Around 1000BC several Umbrians settled i...

Fifty years have gone by since Mayor Joseph Alioto got a call from the Consiglio Comunale di Assisi announcing that the proposal to make San Francisco and Assisi Sister Cities had been approved. That decision marked a crucial moment in the history of the two towns: Assisi, the Città della Pace, (as locals always underline) is in fact Sister City wi...

The Knights of Saint Francis have guarded the Porziuncola Nuova Chapel at the National Shrine of Saint Francis for over ten years. The rector, John La Riva recently closed the little chapel, for no apparent reason, and as a result it is no longer open to members of the public. The Knights of Saint Francis request that the Archbishop direct the rect...

Una serie di appuntamenti per onorare un rapporto di gemellaggio storico che, dopo 50 anni, è stato rinsaldato con una dichiarazione congiunta siglata lo scorso settembre in occasione della visita istituzionale di una delegazione del Comune di Assisi a San Francisco. Questa mattina a Perugia, nella sede della Giunta regionale di Palazzo Donini, il...

The town of Assisi will forever be associated with its most famous son, Saint Francis, the founder of the Franciscan order and patron of Italy. A town located in the Umbria region of Italy in the province of Perugia, Assisi is also the birthplace of Saint Clare and Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. The town’s vast collection of medieval art and...