Sanctuary of San Damiano

The convent and the Church of San Damiano are outside the city walls, not far from Porta Nuova. In this place, surrounded by olive trees, Saint Clare and Saint Francis experienced important moments of their consecrated life.
Here Saint Clare founded the order of the Poor Clares, leading a cloistered life, and she lived there for many years until her death on August 11, 1253. According to tradition, it was at San Damiano that the miraculous episode took place in which St. Clare is said to have stopped the advance of the Saracen armies through prayer.
Various rooms used daily by the abbess can be visited: the choir where Clare prayed, the oratory covered by a barrel vault, the dormitory – a cross on the wall indicates the place where Clare breathed her last breath – and the refectory with the table that marks the place where the Saint sat during meals. Saint Francis also came often to this church, which was the first of the churches he restored after his conversion. He wrote the “Canticle of the Sun” there when he stayed at the convent during his illness in the last years of his life.
The complex is documented starting from the 11th century. It is bordered by a portico and has a gabled façade with an off-center oculus and a small door at the upper left, from where Saint Clare is said to have looked out to send away the Saracen troops. Worthy of note in the portico is the Chapel of San Girolamo, frescoed by the painter Tiberio of Assisi in the 16th century. Two additional scenes painted by Eusebio di San Giorgio in 1507 can be seen in the 16th-century cloister: the Annunciation and Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata.

The interior of the church consists of a single nave, ending in a small semicircular apse with a wooden choir. Above the altar is the copy of the Crucifix that according to legend spoke to Saint Francis (the original is kept in the nella Basilica of Saint Clare). Traces of paintings remain on the walls, which suggest that the building was once entirely decorated with frescoes. Those in the niche remain, painted by a local 14th-century painter, where according to tradition the young Francesco threw the money refused by the priest to begin the work to repair the Church of San Damiano.

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 Sanctuary of San Damiano