More Ancients of Assisi (Book II): From the Basilica of Saint Francis to the Rocca Maggiore (Travel Photo Art)

Assisi was the home of several saints, including Agnes of Assisi, Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, Rufinus of Assisi, Vitalis of Assisi, Sylvester of Assisi, and St. Francis himself. The pink stones used to build many of the Franciscan buildings were quarried from Monte Subasio, the mountain on which the city was built.

Since the residents of Assisi have continued to hold onto their traditional lifestyles, the town offers so much more. High atop a slope overlooking Assisi is the imposing Rocca Maggiore, an imperial fortress reconstructed by Cardinal Albornoz and expanded by Popes Pius II and Paul III.

Hidden beneath the streets is the Roman Domus of Propertius with its frescoed walls. Archaeologists have also preserved the Domus of Lararium, which sports a marble floor mosaic and a covered port with Pompeian decorations.

The forty full-color photographs in Ancients of Assisi I and the additional forty color pictures in Ancients of Assisi 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.

Page through these books to travel through thousands of years of history.