The best city hikes and walks around Parco del Monte Subasio

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The medieval church of Santa Caterina in Foligno stands out for its sober architecture and its devotional function in the historic center. Adjacent to the church are well-preserved medieval houses, whose stone and brick facades contribute to the original atmosphere of the urban fabric. The church and surrounding buildings offer a striking example of medieval Foligno, still visible today.

The Church of Santa Maria Infraportas is one of Foligno's oldest sacred buildings, founded in the early Middle Ages near the city's ancient eastern gate. The sober and austere exterior reflects the building's Romanesque origins, while the interior retains a simple single-nave structure. Of great significance are the medieval and Renaissance frescoes, which testify to a long continuity of worship and artistic interventions. The church played an important role in the city's religious life, also as a place linked to the confraternities. Today, it represents a significant testimony to medieval Foligno and its historical stratification.

Piazza Don Minzoni is an open, bright urban space nestled in the heart of Foligno's medieval center. At the center of the square is a modern fountain with simple lines that organizes the space and serves as its visual focal point. The church of Sant'Apollinare overlooks the square, one of the oldest in the city, whose medieval origins reinforce the site's historic character. Named after Don Giovanni Minzoni, the square today combines a civic and commemorative function with the daily life of the historic center.

The cradle of Franciscanism. The first historical chapter of the Friars Minor, known as the "Chapter of the Mats," met here.

The essence of Francis and Franciscanism

Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli The small chapel of Santa Maria degli Angeli alla Porziuncola, still completely preserved inside the basilica, was, according to tradition, built by four soldiers returning from the Holy War in the wooded plain below Assisi, known as the Cerretto della Porziuncola. They brought a piece of the Madonna's tombstone with them. There, on certain autumn days, the strong wind that blew every cloud from the sky and through the leaves seemed similar to the song of angels. The chapel was administered by the Benedictine monks of the monastery of Santa Benedetto al Subasio since the 10th century. This place would probably have been completely forgotten if the paths of Francis and Clare had not led there. Thanks to them, we find the Porziuncola intact today, just as it was a good 1,000 years ago. But instead of the noisy thicket, there is now a large basilica, built between the 16th and 17th centuries, which envelops and protects the chapel like a caring mother. This view from within the building makes the chapel seem even smaller, almost impossibly small. The church was given to the poor saint by the aforementioned Benedictine monks to establish the headquarters of the newly founded Franciscan order. When Francis first came here, the church was in disrepair, and according to his saintly legend, he dedicated the third year after his conversion exclusively to the renovation of the small chapel. It was here, while reading the Gospel, that he realized that his mission was not to restore dilapidated religious buildings, but to rebuild and preach the entire Kingdom of God by living in poverty, penance, and simplicity. From here, Francis and his confreres set out to spread his message throughout Italy, and here they returned again and again. One night in 1211, a desperate and frightened Chiara d'Offreduccio, who had fled her home and her aristocratic family, knocked on the doors of Porciuncola. Text / Source: Exploring-Umbria.com https://www.exploring-umbria.com/de/entdecke-assisi/sehenswuerdigkeiten-in-assisi/basilica-santa-maria-degli-angeli-in-porziuncolabasilika-zu-unserer-lieben-frau-von-den-engeln/

The large - and magnificent, but with its baroque splendour not quite in keeping with the Franciscan ideal - cathedral of "Santa Maria degli Angeli" is not located in the historic centre of the old town of Assisi, which is nestled along the slope of Monte Subasio, but down in the plain. This place of worship was built - like a sweeping cloak - around the "Portiuncula", a small chapel that still exists in the middle of the nave and is one of the original and important Franciscan shrines.