At the time of St. Francis, the area was still outside the city walls and hosted a small church dedicated to St. George (on record since 1111) to which were connected a hospital and a school belonging to the canons of the Cattedrale di San Rufino. St. Bonaventure re­ports that it was here that young St. Francis learned how to read and later gave his first sermoll. Upon his death, which occurred at the Porziuncola on October 3, 1226, the Saint's body was first carried to the Chiesa di San Damiano to allow St. Clare to bid him farewell, and then to the church of San Giorgio, where it remained in the crypt for four years. The canonization ceremony on July 16, 1228 was also held in this church. Upon St. Clare's death, which occurred on August 11, 1253 in the Convento of San Damiano, her body also was temporarily placed in the Chiesa di San Giorgio. Immediately thereafter, the Damianite sisters made an attempt to transfer to the site of the tomb of their holy founder, proposing to the Cathedral's canons the trading of the Convento of San Dami­ano for the Chiesa di San Giorgio. However, it was only in 1257 that, after countless difficulties and due to the firm intervention of Pope Alexander IV, they obtained the ownership of the small church and began the construction of a basilica in honor of the Saint, canonized in 1255. The work proceeded rapidly and on October 3, 1260, her body was entombed unde the main altar of the new coir . Five years later on September 6, 1265, Cardinal Rodulphus de Chevrieres consecrated the church while Pope Clement IV sol­emnly consecrated the main altar.

Texts Kindly offered by: Editrice Minerva Assisi