Ancients of Assisi I: From Monte Subasio to the Temple of Minerva (Travel Photo Art)

For centuries, Assisi, Italy has been the focus of spiritual activity. The ancient city might be best known as the birthplace of Saint Francis, yet the tangled streets offer much more than a pilgrimage. Situated in the Province of Perugia, the compact city perches in Monte Subasio National Park on the Apennine Mountains.

The forty color photos in Ancients of Assisi I explore these areas as well as the secret Assisi, the Roman city hidden below the buildings. The photographs in Ancients of Assisi I and II were taken at the Basilica di San Francesco, including the Basilica inferior and the Basilica superior; the Sacro Convento, a Franciscan friary; the Rocca Maggiore, a castle that is 800 years old; Santa Maria Maggiore; the Basilica of Santa Chiara, or Saint Clare; and the Roman Domus of Propertius and the Domus of Lararium, both of which are underground.

Of special note in this first collection is a dove that settled inside the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, recalling the legend of Saint Francis preaching to the birds. Turn the page to step back through thousands of years of history.