You will start your visit from the lower floor by entering the tomb of saint Francis and then you will keep exploring the church in the altar area where the frescoes about Jesus life are located. You will see then the friary cloister. The upper church at the end will make you knowing Saint Francis life through the famous cycle of paintings decorating the church’s side walls.The Basilica of Saint Francis is a bi- level 13th century building which preserves the tomb of Saint Francis of Assisi, one of the most beloved Saints in the world.
This grandiose gorgeously embellished church does preserve frescoes by Cimabue, Giotto, Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti and other very well known medieval painters of Italy. Indeed it is one of the most focal points of both art and spirituality. This church is a powerful place for believers and art lovers alike.
Our guide Werner was very knowledgeable and very passionate. He explained the history and the art in a way that kept us interested. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour.
Our guide was knowledgeable! While you can walk through this area on your own for free, you will most likely miss many things that our guide pointed out and explained. Even as a catholic I learned sooo much!
The only way to see this site is to pre purchase a timed entry. If traveling from Florence it’s a nice train ride to Assisi then a short inexpensive taxi ride to the town.
Our tour guide was very friendly and extremely informative and passionate about the basilica . We all gained a great insight to the life of Saint Francis
This was a fabulous tour and our guide was so animated when she spoke I could listen to her all day. She made it exciting and interesting. I bought two tickets because there were no tickets for single person. Others on my travel said the same that it hard to get one person ticket. That’s a shame as lots of solo travellers now.
The Guide was very knowledgeable, the complete tour was very interesting and we had a nice time in basilica
Our tour guide was just wonderful! Thank you for still holding the tour even with a smaller group. That meant a lot! St. Francis comes to life in this tour. So impressive & inspiring.
Our guide was knowledgeable, passionate, and entertaining for our tour! She was devout yet relatable and seemed excited to be showing us around.
Very informative tour of the artwork adorning the interior of the bassilica. Our guide customized the tour to our interests by asking about our motivation for signing up for the tour, which was much appreciated.
The Basilica is quite a way up from the lower town and is then on two levels plus the stairs down to the crypt. My husband was in a wheelchair, and everyone from the tour guide, the guards, the police were helpful in getting him from place to place. Our tour guide, Francesca, was EXTREMELY knowledgable about the history of Umbria, the town of Assisi, the Basilica, and the life of St. Frances. I would hire her again in a heartbeat for any tour. I cannot recommend her highly enough.
Our guide was excellent . However the Viator instruction to me of where to meet the guide was unclear. All tourists enter the Basilica at Assissi through a lower gateway into the large Piazza Inferiore, which was packed with large numbers of tourists of different nationalities with different guides. It was unclear where in the Piazza we should meet our guide. I suggest you change your wording as set out below: " You enter the Piazza Inferiore though the lower gateway and then need to proceed to the top of the Piazza and wait outside the Basilica by the railings next to next to the entrance to the Lower Church."
This tour with Werner was probably the best we had in Italy! It was private (just my partner and I) along with the guide. Werner provided some much insight into the history and art of the basilica and its interrelationship to the life and legacy of St Francis. Even though it is a private tour you still get a headset which helps as the church is obviously very quiet. We went through the full lower and upper church including St Francis tomb. One of the most spectacular churches I visited in Italy. 10/10 would recommend to anyone thinking about going.
It was a very interactive tour. My husband knows St Francis so much and the guide is very knowledgeable too and open- minded to the whole idea of Catholicism.
The tour could not have been better. Our guide was fantastic in every way. We made memories of a beautiful and spiritual place that will last a lifetime.
We did this tour with a local expert as part of an Insight Vacations 'Country Roads of Italy' tour. You are not allowed to take photos inside - yet other visitors were doing so, were noisy and it was not 'patrolled'. This took away a little of the enjoyment, as our guide was very frustrated with the lack of respect of some visitors.
Michele was an excellent tour guide. Friendly. Knowledgeable. He showed us around the charming town of Assisi. He shared stories of both St Francis and St. Claire. The basilicas are stunning. He provided suggestions on other places to visit, and he gave me specific suggestions on Perugia such as where to park and what to see.
Alberino was a great guide very knowledgeable and would answer all the questions. Patient and soft spoken. I recommend him.
Alessandra the guide was fantastic, we learn a lot and had a great experience. The basilica is amazingly beautiful.
I am a Travel Advisor. I booked this tour for clients who told me that the guide did not show up after they traveled from Rome to Assisi for this tour. I asked for a complete refund on behalf of my clients and received an email back that no refund was available. Then, nearly immediately, another email to disregard that one and that an investigation is pending. This is not the only issue I have with Viator that I am trying to solve.
Andrea, our guide was wonderful - really brought the history of the art to life, and was warm and witty in his delivery. His English is excellent and his style very engaging. I would heartily recommend him.
The history of St Francis and the frescoes. The guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about her subject matter and explained everything really well.
Very knowledgeable and passionate guide who shared interesting stories and insights about the history of St. Francis’ life and times.
What an amazing experience! To see and understand what and who Saint Francis is was awesome. Our guide Alessandra was extremely knowledgeable and helpful in explaining what we were seeing. I would recommend this tour to whoever visits Assisi, Italy!
Angelina was a wonderful and knowledgeable. She shared awesome information about the Basilica and we also met Jerry, a Franciscan Frier, who was was very colleaguial. Wonderful tour!!
Our guide was very knowledgeable and spent a lot of time explaining the frescos and life of St Francis. Going into the crypt where his bones were was spiritual.
I had been to the cathedral in 1977 when I was in school studying abroad. I forgot so much about the history and the art. Our guide, Mariana LUCIANI, was fantastic. Very detailed in the history and art. Had fun little stories and very nice sense of humor. She was kind enough to walk us up the street after the tour. She helped us pick out some vino and cheese. A very pleasant experience. Highly recommend Marita!
<p>Our guide was very informative about the history and construction of the Basilica and the frescoes and I would highly recommend her.</p>
Knowledgeable enjoyable guide
It exceeded our expectations. Guide, impeccable. He knew a lot and taught us a lot of things. When I booked the tour, I couldn’t get it in Spanish and worried I couldn’t understand. But both my husband and I understood everything. I would like to recall the name of the Guide to thank you also for this way. The explanations were very pleasant and she very organized and friendly. It was just the two of us and another marriage. Ideal. I highly recommend this tour, with this company and this Guide. Thank you!
La guia Francesca fue muy paciente, tuvimos un retraso llegando pero se comunico de inmediato y nos ayudo a poder encontrarnos con ella. Tiene mucho conocimiento y lo transmite de manera agradable y facil, con calma, sin afanes. Estamos muy agradecidos con ella y la super recomendamos
We were able to book a guided tour with an earpiece in which the companion was a friar, who immediately proved very prepared. We were in a group of about twenty people and the tour started from the lower Basilica, where in my opinion the explanation of the frescoes lasted longer than it should in relation to the overall duration. In particular, given the visual distance and the not always perfect condition of the paintings, I thought it quite unnecessary to dwell in the description of details that most of the listeners did not even know where to look to be able to spot them. When we went up to the upper basilica, in my opinion much more interesting, the delay accumulated did not allow our companion, however willing, to illustrate all the numerous frescoes present in as much detail. In some passages it almost seemed as if the guide was trying to persuade us all that the Franciscan worldview was not only the only right but also the only possible one. The initial wordiness and this lack of respect for individual freedom of thought led us not to leave too high an offer, as we would have initially liked.
Wir bedanken uns nochmal herzlich bei der Füherin die war mega und wir hatten so viel Spaß. Danke für alles. Wir haben so viel gelernt.
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