BASILICA OF SAN FRANCESCO, Cloister And Upper Basilica

Here we are in the large Cloister, where you can see the magnificent apse of the basilica in all its striking glory. The cloister can be considered the heart of the convent, linking the church to the buildings for sleeping, eating, meeting and studying. Here the friars can walk and pray: the enclosed, covered space represents the church and the earthly world, while the open, central area, into which light floods from the sky, epitomizes the infinite dimension of God.

Now press pause and go up to the terrace to enjoy the view, visit the Treasure Museum and then enter the Upper Church.

The atmosphere here is completely different from the Lower Church. The many large, stained-glass windows allow a warm, shifting, mystic light to flood in throughout the large interior, sweeping triumphantly through the apse. It’s as if the building of the two churches on top of one another was an attempt to illustrate the experience of human existence: the Lower Church represents our experience on earth, obscure and painful, while the Upper Church symbolizes life illuminated by faith....