Basilica of Saint Clare

The Church of Saint Clare is undoubtedly the second most visited building in Assisi, after the Basilica of Saint Francis.

Built with the typical white and pink stone of Mt. Subasio, it stands on a large square, from which there is a beautiful view of the valley and the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli.
The building is dedicated to a well-known native of Assisi, Saint Clare. Clare was born in 1193 to a wealthy family and, after refusing to marry a nobleman, she went to the Porziuncola, where Francis lived. Following the example of her spiritual companion, she renounced worldly goods and went to the Convent of San Damiano. She lived for many years in this small church, and there she founded the Order of Poor Clares, remaining there until her death in 1253. The Basilica of Saint Clare was built in 1257 over an earlier building, the Church of San Giorgio, inside which the bodies of Francesco and Chiara were buried for some time.

The gabled façade is divided into three parts: the entrance door opens in the lower story, the elegant rose window dominates the middle story and at the top, in perfect symmetry, is an oculus, a circular opening. On the left, the structure was reinforced with three flying buttresses in the 14th century; those on the right side are hidden within the structure of the monastery.
The Basilica has a Latin cross plan, and originally the walls were entirely covered with frescoes. Today those in the chancel area remain: in the left transept you can admire the Stories of Genesis by a 13th-century artist; on the right are The Judgment, the Stories of the Childhood of Christ and the Death and Funeral of Clare by the Expressionist Master of Saint Francis, most probably identified as Palmerino di Guido. The same artist painted the Madonna and Child with Saints on the vaulted ceiling above the main altar.

The large crucifix above the altar was made in the second half of the 13th century by the Master of Saint Clare at the behest of Clare’s successor as abbess, the Blessed Benedetta, who appears depicted at the feet of Christ.
The Master also created the panel with the image of Saint Clare surrounded by eight episodes from her life. Along the right side of the nave is the Chapel of the Crucifix, a place for prayer and worship; many people go to this room to see the original crucifix that, according to tradition, spoke to Francis in San Damiano.
The cross was painted in the 12th century with the Christus triumphans iconography; the name of the artist is unknown. The chapel was decorated in the 14th century with frescoes by Puccio Capanna, Pace di Bartolo, and a local painter.

Stairs lead down from the nave into the 19th-century neo-Gothic crypt, which holds relics of Francis and Clare, along with Saint Clare’s remains.

Assisi for everyone

Do you need more information on the accessibility of the monument? We have a dedicated section where you can find all the useful information for people with motor disabilities to visit Basilica of Saint Claire