History of the Building

The buildings of San Francesco, which comprise the upper church, lower church and the adjoining Sacro Convento, are located at the foot of the Monte Subasio, to the west of the town of Assisi. The church is one of the key examples of architecture of the Italian gothic period and in its dual function as the mother church of the Franciscan order, acknowledged in 1228, and as a place of pilgrimage, it is of special significance for both religious and art-historical reasons. When construction started in 1228, it was led by the minister-general of the order, Brother Elias of Assisi, until his resignation in 1239. By 1230, two years after Pope Gregory IX laid the foundation stone, the construction of the lower church had progressed so far that the remains of St. Francis could be brought there. Consequently this part of the church fulfils the function of a sepulchre and comprises a nave with side chapels and the crypt below it. The upper church with its single nave must have also been almost complete when Pope Innocent IV consecrated the entire complex in 1253. Nevertheless, Nicholas IV repeatedly sent reminders during his four-year pontificate, which started in 1288, to complete the building and, above all, urged decoration of the church in a manner appropriate to its importance. The upper church was raised to the extraordinary status of a papal church before the end of the 13th century.