The lower is decorated by the best painters and stained glass workers of the 13th and 14th centuries, or so they say. The upper basilica is adorned by Giotto frescos of the life of St. Francis. Down below it all is a crypt dug in 1818 to house the saint’s body. The whole place is very well preserved, and quite empty before the bus loads of tour groups arrive. Incidentally a basilica is “a large and important Roman Catholic church that has been given special ceremonial rights by the Pope”.
Then back up the hill to the Cattedrale de San Rufino. It had large glass inserts in the floor showing the excavations of the Roman foundations. Incidentally a cathedral is “the principal church of a diocese, with which the bishop is officially associated”.
Then back to the main square (actually a shape that defies geometry) Piazza del Comune. Here is a series of huge Roman columns dating from the first century that fronted a temple to Minerva. Behind the columns is a 16th century church, Santa Maria sopra Minerva. How that all ties together is the subject for later research. The church was renovated in the 17th century to the most garish Baroque style. 
After that there were several more churches, but the memories seem to run together after while. Most were romanesque or more medieval in architecure, nothing gothic here.
Lunch at a little osteria, and a couple hours sitting on the terrace watching the thunder clouds form over Subasio completed the afternoon.
And then it is back up the hill once again to the main piazza for a light supper – lasagna this time. Are there no tomatos in Italy? I think we have yet to have a pasta with a tomato based sauce. Have I been misled all these years?
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