The Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is located in Assisi, Umbria, and it is the first major example of Gothic architecture purely Italian. Less than 2 years after the death of St. Francis, the successor to the command of the Order, Brother Elias, received the gift of a plot of land they would sort the Basilica of San Francesco, which still contains the remains of the saint. The Lower Basilica, begun in 1228, is an aisle with bays and vaults, two transepts and an apse semicircular, and the chapels are later, the end of the century. The work of the church below, to be completed in 1230 when there was brought the body of the saint buried in a sarcophagus beneath the altar, where is still preserved in a small crypt. The Upper Basilica completed in 1253, has only one nave with transept and apse protruding polygonal. The upper part is decorated with a great central rose window, the side with the symbols of the Evangelists in relief. The lower part is enriched by the majestic portal splayed. Externally the church has a simple façade with rose window and gable, sides divided by buttresses in the form of towers, circular apse with the base and the top flanked by two polygonal towers. Almost simultaneously at the end of the construction of the church above, would begin the fresco decorations. In the church above the walls of the nave contain frescoes of the Roman school and Giotto. The transept and the choir is probably emaciated, Cimabue including the Crucifixion. In the church below the walls of the nave are decorated with Stories of St. Francis. The splendid decorations of the church have worked the most illustrious artists of the time as Simone Martini and the already cited Cimabue and Giotto.
The earthquake of 26 September 1997 caused deep injury to the upper basilica, with the collapse of time in two points and massive damage to the gable of the transept: 130 square meters of medieval frescoes were reduced in thousands of fragments. The basilica was closed for two years for restoration work. The earthquake caused the collapse of part of the frescoes, attributed to the young Giotto and Cimabue, the time of the first span.
