Basilica di San Francesco (Basilica of Saint Francis), Assisi

Rising on the western edge of Assisi, the Basilica di San Francesco is the spiritual heart of the Franciscan world and one of Umbria's defining sights. Visitors find two churches stacked one on top of the other: the bright, soaring Upper Church and the dim, low-vaulted Lower Church, with the saint's tomb in the crypt below. In the Upper Church the eye is drawn to the celebrated 28-scene fresco cycle of the Life of Saint Francis, traditionally attributed to Giotto and his workshop, running at eye level around the nave. The Lower Church is darker and more intimate, its chapels and vaults painted by Cimabue, Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti, whose Maesta and Crucifixion scenes reward slow looking. A stairway from the centre of the Lower Church descends to the stone tomb of Saint Francis, a quiet place of pilgrimage. Most visitors spend ninety minutes to two hours moving between the two levels and the crypt, while the adjoining treasury and cloisters add more time. The basilica is busiest in late morning when coach tours and pilgrim groups converge, and around major feast days; arriving at opening or in the final hour before closing gives a calmer experience. Modest dress covering shoulders and knees is required, and the lower town offers the classic photograph of the long arcaded facade and bell tower, especially in afternoon light. Photography is not permitted inside the churches in order to protect the frescoes. Entry is free, though guided tours and audio guides carry a charge. The site sits at the foot of the old town, an easy downhill walk from Piazza del Comune, and forms the natural starting or finishing point of any visit to Assisi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.