In the plain of Assisi about four kilometers from the historical center, is the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli after which, the surrounding area is named. Inside is the chapel of Porziuncola: a pIace deeply 
loved by St.Francis and in which God conceded him special graces. Various pages in the story of Franciscan life were 
written around the chapel in 1208, listening to the gospel, Francis became more clearly aware of his vocation; in 1216, in a vision Francis obtained from Jesus himself the indulgence of the "Pardon of Assisi" which was then approved by Pope Honorius III. In the second half of the 16th century Pius V ordered the construction of a great basilica to enclose and protect the Porziuncola. The building, on a design by the Perugino Galeazzo Alessl, was begun 1568 and finished in 1684.  As a basilica it is one of the largest in the word, 116 m long and with a maximum width of 65 meters. The exterior of the basilica was remodelled several times; after the earthquake of 1832, which seriously damaged the entire church, and once more in 1926-27 by the architect Cesare Bazzani. 

At the top of the tympanum is the bronze statue of the Madonna (7,15 m high) by the sculptor G. Colasanti, of 1930. The dome, built right over the small church of the Porziuncola, and designed by Galeazzo Alessi, rest on a polygonal base and terminates with a lantern on which the cross is set. Next to the dome (75 m high) is a Reaissance bell-tower.

THE PORZIUNCOLA 

The third church St.Francis restored, after San Damiano and San Pietro della Spina, the result of hearing the voice of the crucifix of San Damiano. The interior of the Porziuncola preserves its original freshness intact. Even though we do not know exactly what Francis did, it is not difficult to image what the small works of restoration and consolidation were. 
On the faciade of the chapel is a fresco by G. Federico Overbeck (1892) representing Francis invoking Jesus and the Madonna to obtain the gift of indulgence.

CHAPELL OF THE TRANSITO

A few meters tram the Porziuncola, on the right side, in the apse of the basilica, is the chapel of the Transito (death). This was the infirmary of the originaI convent, one of the huts scattered through the grove, that the friars built to live in. St. Francis spent the last hours of his earthly existence here and died after having himself placed on the bare earth the evening of October 3, 1226.

CONVENT MUSEUM 

Some of the rooms on the ground floor of the convent house the "Museo della Porziuncola", with its precious collection of church vestments and fine paintings, including a Cross by Giunta Pisano (perhaps dating to 1236) and a 13th-century portrait of St. Francis (by the so called St. Francis Master). 

Other interesting pictures are a Madonna and Child by Mezzastris and various 16th-century paintings.

THE ROSETO 

Various sites that occupy the area where the originaI "woods" once stood go by the name of "roseto" or rose garden. Access is from the basilica through a courtyard built in 1882. At the beginning is a statue of St. Francis with the Doves. At the center of the rose garden is a bronze monument by Vincenzo Rosignoli (1916), St. Francis and the Lamb. On the base of the statue are various scenes from the Canticle of the Creatures. All around the "thornless roses".

FOUNTAIN WITH TWENTY-SIX SPOUTS

On the left side of the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, in 1610 the Medici Family (coat of arms - 6 balls and a shield - still visible) had built a long fountain, known as the Fountain of 26 Spouts. Previously Cosimo of the Medici had provided for the building of an aqueduct to be used by the Franciscan Brothers who were living near the Portiuncola. In 1486 the aqueduct was renovated by Lorenzo il Magnifico. On the opposite side against the wall of a small building (Seat of our Association) are the remains of the Three spouts fountain, which had been constructed by Pope Clement VIII of the Medici.

PALAZZO DEL CAPITANO DEL PERDONO

Palazzo del Capitano del Perdono (see picture above) was built to protect the Fountain with 26 spouts. It was destroyed in 1610 and rebuilt in 1617 seat of the Capitano del Perdono was suggested by the community of Assisi to supervise the multitude of pilgrims who would arrive on the Feast of the Portiuncola on August 2nd. Already in the middle of the 13th Century (time of St. Francis) the number of pilgrims amounted to hundreds of thousands.