St. Francis of Assisi Basilica:
This is a church dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi in Florence. He is one of my favorite saints because not only did he give up a well-established life for poverty, but he is the saint associated with the care of animals and I have always been an animal lover. I actually have three pet wild white tail deer. Francis was canonized on July 17 1228, and the next day the first stones were laid by Pope Gregory the IX. One thing I found really interesting was that the hill the church stands used to be used for executions and known as “The Hill of Hell.” There are three layers to this building the upper church, the basilica superiore where only the Pope can hold mass. The lower church, known as the basilica inferiore and an underground crypt to house the saint’s tomb. There is a lot of amazing art works in this basilica including frescoes of Saint Francis’s life, mosaic tile ceilings, and an altar with a marble slab from Constantinople. There is also a chapter house which holds some of his relics, including a moth-eaten grey tunic worn by St. Francis and other items belonging to the saint. I think this would be really cool to see because it is amazing to see cloth actually worn by him that is still here and not deteriorated.
All this information I found on this following website and it also contained some great pictures: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/assisi-san-francesco
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