Guided Tour of Assisi

Tour overview

We will travel through the Piazza del Comune and see the ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Minerva, where the guide will introduce the meaning of the temple, what it was used for during the Middle Ages, and why Minerva was so important to the Romans.
We will show you the Civic Palaces, the house of Saint Francis, and the church of Chiesa Nuova.
What was the Piazza del Comune used for?
The piazza was the heart of culture, politics and religion in the area from the 1300s until the present. Here you will find an amazing fountain and some fantastic restaurants, where you can sit down, have a delicious meal and watch people walking around the square.
The Temple of Minerva is a splendid ancient temple dedicated to the Roman goddess Minerva in the historical center of Assisi. The temple dates back to the 1st century BCE and was built by order of Gnaeus Caesius and Titus Priscus. The reason for the name is because a female statue was found in this area. We know that in the Middle Ages, the temple also had a tribunal with an annexed jail; it was witnessed by the important painter Giotto, who created a fresco in the Basilica of St Francis. The temple was also mentioned by Goethe, who saw it when he travelled to Italy in 1786 and described how well it was preserved.
From the Renaissance and Baroque periods onward, most temples were used as basilicas. Here the beautiful Baroque Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva has been incorporated around the temple, so you can admire both the ancient architecture and the new structure, which was built in 1539 and restored in the Baroque style much later on.
Inside the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, which has become a world heritage site, is buried the body of St. Francis himself. But here you will also find some of the world’s most important works of art. Here we will show you the early works of the Renaissance from the two fathers of painting and fresco techniques, Giotto and Cimabue. Here you will see the vivid colors of the great artist Giotto, who first created paintings that were