09061265 Consecration Basilica Saint Clare by Pope Clement IV

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Work on the construction of the current Basilica of Santa Clara began in 1257 under the direction of Brother Felipe de Campello. Three years later, the work was completed in its essential elements, so that on October 3, 1260, the remains of Saint Clare were transferred to the church built in her honor and placed in a sarcophagus under the main altar. Pope Clement IV solemnly consecrated this church in 1265.

At the beginning of the 14th century, the chapel of Saint Agnes was built, and at the end of the same century the side buttresses were added.

The body of Saint Clare remained for seven years in the same place where that of Saint Francis had been buried. In 1260 it was placed under the main altar and remained there for almost six centuries, until September 23, 1850, when it was discovered, incorrupt, after eight nights of work. In the crypt you can still see the exact location of his tomb. 

Once the construction of the neo-Gothic crypt was completed in 1872, the incorrupt body of the saint has remained exposed for public veneration in a gilded bronze urn that since the beginning of 1988 has been changed for another simpler and safer one, after The saint's face and hands were covered in wax.

In the Basilica of Santa Clara, Romanesque and Gothic styles are combined. Its exterior walls are characterized by horizontal stripes of reddish and white stones. The large lateral buttresses open in botal arches make it pleasant and at the same time give it a characteristic note. 

The façade is divided into three areas by two simple cornices and contains the strictly necessary architectural elements: an entrance door surrounded by a simple arch escorted by two symbolic animals (lower area), a double rose window with very fine radii (intermediate area), and the eye or skylight that pierces the upper triangle. The tower gives the complex a touch of harmony and elegance thanks to its good proportions of volume and height (it is the tallest in Assisi).

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