Francis's cave
A rock hollow the size of a man, where he slept.
Superchilum — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Andreas_Lattmann — CC0 · Bramfab — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bramfab — CC BY-SA 4.0
**A tiny hermitage clinging to a cliff in oak forest above Assisi — with the cave Francis withdrew into** — 4 km up Monte Subasio. ⚠ **The name does not mean prisons**: **"carceri" here means enclosure** in the sense of **retreat** — **places where friars withdrew to pray in solitude**. ✅ **The setting is the point**: **very small stone buildings pressed against the rock** above a **narrow, plunging ravine**, **in dense ancient oak forest**. ⚠ **It holds Francis's cave** — **a hollow in the rock the size of a man** where he slept, ⚠ **entered through a low, narrow passage**. ✅ **Around the hermitage run forest paths** to small chapels and grottoes. ⚠ **And silence here is an imposed rule, not a courtesy.**
A rock hollow the size of a man, where he slept.
A narrow gorge among ancient oaks around the hermitage.
Routes to small chapels and grottoes on the mountain.
Via Eremo delle Carceri 38, 06081 Assisi, Italy
**By separating the crowded morning from the empty evening — and staying the night.** ⚠ **The problem**: **Assisi is Italy's largest pilgrimage destination after Rome**, **and dozens of coaches arrive daily** from Florence and Rome for a half-day visit. ⚠ **So the town between 10:00 and 16:00 is completely packed** — and the main street is a queue. ✅ **First answer — stay the night**: ⚠ **the town empties entirely once the coaches leave** — ✅ **and Assisi in the evening is a wholly different place**: empty stone lanes, **light on the pink stone**, **and a view over the Umbrian plain and its lights**. **That alone justifies a night.** ✅ **Second answer — invert the order**: **start at the Basilica of Saint Francis at opening (around 6:00–8:00)** — **before any coach arrives**; ✅ **then drive up to the Eremo delle Carceri** mid-morning, **and come back in the afternoon** as the coaches begin to leave. ✅ **Third answer — the season**: ⚠ **avoid 4 October** (the saint's feast) and **Easter week** if you want quiet; ✅ **and May, September and October are Umbria's best months**.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.