Fifty years have gone by since Mayor Joseph Alioto got a call from the Consiglio Comunale di Assisi announcing that the proposal to make San Francisco and Assisi Sister Cities had been approved. That decision marked a crucial moment in the history of the two towns: Assisi, the Città della Pace, (as locals always underline) is in fact Sister City with all places on Earth. However, an exception for San Francisco and Jerusalem has been made, giving both cities an exclusive status as well as a special pride.

The history of the San Francisco-Assisi relationship, which became indeed official through the constitution of the San Francisco Sister City Committee, was marked by different moments, yet the message has never changed: while the uniqueness of Assisi is undoubted, the Spanish explorers’ mission, that occurred in the 18th century in California, was named after Saint Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan Order, and still reminds the way people in Assisi spend their life, upon Francesco’s words.