The Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (Saint Mary of the Angels) is a church situated in the plain at the foot of the hill of Assisi

Assisi

- Churches :* The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi is a World Heritage Site. The Franciscan monastery, il Sacro Convento, and the lower and upper church of St Francis were begun immediately after his canonization in 1228, and completed in 1253...

, Italy, in the frazione

Frazione

A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...

of Santa Maria degli Angeli

Santa Maria degli Angeli (Assisi)

Santa Maria degli Angeli is a frazione of the comune of Assisi in the Province of Perugia, Umbria, central Italy. It stands at an elevation of 218 metres above sea level. At the time of the Istat census of 2001 it had 6665 inhabitants, and is located c. 4 km south from Assisi...

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The basilica was constructed in the Mannerist style between 1569 and 1679 enclosing the 9th century little church, the Porziuncola

Porziuncola

Porziuncola, also called Portiuncula or Porzioncula, Porciúncula is a small church located within the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in the frazione of Santa Maria degli Angeli, situated about from Assisi, Umbria...

, the most sacred place for the Franciscans. It was here that the young Francis of Assisi

Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...

 understood his vocation and renounced the world in order to live in poverty among the poor and thus started the Franciscan movement.
After the death of Saint Francis in 1226, the friars built several small huts around the Porziuncola.