Santa Chiara Basilica (Basilica of Saint Clare), Assisi (must see)

Saint Clare died in Assisi in 1253. Church fathers were so impressed with her sanctity she was canonized in 1255. She was laid to rest in the chapel of Saint George.

In 1260 her body was taken to the new Basilica of Saint Clare and buried under the high altar.

In 1850 the tomb was opened and the remains recovered and later the body was ceremoniously transferred to a newly completed shrine within the crypt of the Basilica.

The facade of the Basilica is of horizontal bands of white and pink stone. There is a single wheel-like rose window and a single doorway with an arch above the tympanum. Sculpted lions are on each side of the doorway. The building is supported by oversized flying buttresses.

On the south side of the nave there is the oratory of the crucifix, a chapel that holds the 12th century crucifix said to have spoken to Saint Francis urging him to repair and reform the church.

Go down a passageway into the neo-Gothic crypt. In the shrine one can see the body of Saint Clare. She lies at the east end. At the other end of the shrine are relics of both Francis and Clare.