The 1832 earthquakes caused the collapse of the central nave as far as the cross vault, sections of the side ones and the upper part of the façade, whilst the dome and apse were saved.
The focus of the Basilica, that is, the Chapel of the Porziuncola appears as a small church, directly under the dome. At the beginning of the 13th century the church had been abandoned among the oaks belonging to the Benedictine monks of Subasio. In around 1205, Francis established his home there, restored the church and founded the Franciscan Order. The first huts for the monks made of clay and reeds were built around the Porziuncola. This was the place where Saint Francis lived most often, where he gave Saint Clare her religious habit (1212) and where he held the Chapter of Mats (1221), which was attended by more than 5000 friars. Tradition states that here Saint Francis obtained plenary indulgence from the Virgin Mary.
The Porziuncola is a very simple rectangular construction, made of polychrome stone from Subasio. The upper part of the façade is covered by a fresco (The Pardon of Assisi), by Friedrich Overbeck from Lübeck (1829). On the right-hand side are the remains of two fifteenth-century frescoes with a Sienese influence: Madonna and Child between Saint Francis and Saint Bernardine. At the rear, is a fresco by Perugino, Calvary (the upper-part of which has been lost). The interior (the door-knockers are from the fifteenth century) has a cross-ribbed vault, a little blackened by the smoke from the lamps; at the altar, the Annunciation and stories of Forgiveness, a large panel by Ilario da Viterbo (1393), who also made the frescoed strip on the vault with the Evangelists; on the left-hand wall is a fresco of the Imago Pietatis.
Palazzo del Popolo
The Palazzo del Capitano is found in Assisi's main square, Piazza del Comune. It stands to the left of the Temple of Minerva, and was built in the mid-thirteenth century and completed in 1282. It was restored and given Guelph battlements in 1927, together with the nearby Torre del Popolo (Municipal Tower), which was completed in 1305. At the base of the tower are are profiles of official measurements were used for measuring bricks and tiles in use in 1348. The tower has a square layout and is 47 metres high.
In 1282, Capitano Guido de' Rossi from Florence ordered his own coat-of-arms be bricked in between two shields with the cross, the symbol of the comune.
The rooms on the ground floor contain walls painted by Adalberto Migliorati, depicting medieval trades.
The first floor of the building is home to the headquarters and library of the Società Internazionale di Studi Francescani (International Society of Franciscan Studies).
