In Assisi, one of the main pilgrim draws is a tiny church dwarfed by its expansive surroundings, the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels near Assisi, Italy. The chapel is just about 18 feet long by 10.5 feet wide, built of tawny colored stones and rustically plain, with the exception of its fresco-decorated upper facade. In the much larger basilica, this unusual church-within-a-church draws multitudes of visitors who jostle for space to spend a few minutes contemplating its austere interior.
Such a small and simple place of worship might be easily overlooked elsewhere, but this one is exceptional — it is the Porziuncola (“little portion” in Italian), and it is considered to be the birthplace of the Franciscan order, founded by St. Francis of Assisi in 1209.
