Chiesa di San Damiano (Church of Saint Damian), Assisi (must see)

In 1205, it was at Saint Damian that Francis of Assisi received his divine call to undertake repairs. He later brought Saint Clare and her followers here, “pouring the sweetness of Christ into her ears.” Clare remained at Saint Damian until her death, and her community of nuns stayed here for seven years afterward. After establishing the Poor Clares, Francis visited Saint Damian only once more, towards the end of his life. Suffering from illness and partial blindness, he composed the Canticle of the Sun here. His body was also briefly brought here after his death, fulfilling his promise that Clare would see him once more.

Unique among Assisi’s Franciscan sites, Saint Damian preserves a distinctly Franciscan ideal: peaceful and rural, surrounded by olive groves, cypresses, and wildflowers and overlooking the pastoral Spoleto Valley. A life-sized bronze statue depicts Saint Francis seated in meditation, gazing across the valley as though absorbed in the divine presence within all things.

Once you are facing the church, pass beneath the rightmost arch of the outer portico to examine the historic fresco of Saint Roch displaying his plague sore. The painting forms part of a group of votive figures that also includes Saint Francis, Saint Clare, and Saint Sebastian.

The church’s nave, dating back to at least 1030, is simple and darkened by smoke, with an aged wooden choir and lectern. Enter the nave and locate the small window in the southern wall, beside the niche where Francis is said to have hidden. From the nave, follow the signs into the ground-floor cloister and visit the historic refectory, which is still furnished with its original 13th-century table and oak benches. Elsewhere in this ground-floor monastic block, an open window marks the traditional spot where Clare, holding the Blessed Sacrament, repelled a Saracen force threatening Assisi.

Next, climb the stone stairs leading to a terrace and small garden. Along the way, you will pass through a vestibule containing an old wooden choir and two frescoes, including a delicate Madonna and Child by an unidentified artist influenced by Giotto. Directly upstairs, you will enter the oratory and the small, austere dormitory, where a cross and flowers permanently mark the place where Clare died.