SANCTUARY OF SAN DAMIANO, Sanctuary Of San Damiano

Hi, my name’s Rick, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the wonders of the world: the Sanctuary of San Damiano.

The Sanctuary of San Damiano is a fundamental place in the history of St Francis and St Clare.

It was 1205 when the young Francis, who had recently given up his plans to leave for the Fourth Crusade as a knight, found himself passing the church of San Damiano.

Erected a few centuries earlier, the temple was now falling into ruin, but the boy, in the throes of a deep existential crisis, entered it to pray. It was then that he heard a voice, coming from the crucifix, urging him to repair his house, which was falling into ruin.

Francis immediately began renovating the church and the adjoining convent where, in 1211, St Clare moved with other nuns, founding the order of the Poor Ladies of San Damiano, later to become the Poor Clares.

It was in this convent that St Clare spent the next 42 years, until her death in 1253.

The complex can be visited independently, following a signed route, or by reservation with a guide from the Friars Minor, who reside there and manage it....