Assisi

The earliest attested people of Assisi were the Umbri. In 77 AD Pliny the Elder described Regio VI Umbria and said that the Umbri were thought to be the oldest inhabitants of Italy. The people of Assisi were mentioned by name. The Romans took control of central Italy after the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC. They built the flourishing municipium Asisium on a series of terraces on Monte Subasio. Roman remains can still be found in Assisi: city walls, the forum (now Piazza del Comune), a theatre, an amphitheatre and the Temple of Minerva (now transformed into the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva). In 1997, the remains of a Roman villa were also discovered containing several well-preserved rooms with frescoes and mosaics in a condition rarely found outside sites such as Pompei. The Augustan-age poet Propertius is considered to have been born in what is now the city of Assisi. …

The Calendimaggio Festival takes place on the first four days of May ending on a Saturday. The festival is a re-enactment of medieval and Renaissance life in the form of a challenge between the upper faction (parte de sopra) with a blue flag and the lower faction of the town (parte de sotto) with a red flag. It includes processions, theatrical presentations, choirs, crossbow, flag-waving and dancing contests. Assisi embroidery is a form of counted-thread embroidery which has been practised in Assisi since the 13th century. Today many groups gather in Assisi for a variety of cultural and religious activities. One such group restored an 11th-century room and added altars to the world's religions. Other organizations, such as Assisi Performing Arts, host musical performances and other cultural events. …

UNESCO collectively designated the Franciscan structures of Assisi as a World Heritage Site in 2000, under the name Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites. The inscription comprises two main areas: Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi: Constructed between 1228 and 1253 following the canonization of St. Francis, the complex includes the Sacro Convento and the lower (Basilica inferiore) and upper (Basilica superiore) churches. The lower church features frescoes by Cimabue and Giotto, while the upper church contains scenes from the life of St. Francis, once attributed to Giotto but now believed to be the work of painters from the Roman school of Pietro Cavallini. The basilica suffered severe damage during a 5.5-magnitude earthquake on 26 September 1997, which caused part of the vault to collapse, killing four people and destroying a fresco by Cimabue. …

Assisi railway station, opened in 1866, forms part of the Foligno–Terontola railway, which also links Florence with Rome. The station is located at Piazza Dante Alighieri, in the frazione of Santa Maria degli Angeli, about 5 km (3 mi) southwest of the city centre.