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Bastia Umbra

BASTIA UMBRA (201 metres above sea level)
Today a busy agricultural, industrial and commercial centre, site of nationally important exhibitions and trade fairs, in the Middle Ages it was called INSULA ROMANA.
Long subject to Assisi, it was taken over by the Perugians Michelotti, Fortebraccio and Baglioni. The bridge across the Chiascio was built in 1548. By 1581, the village was the site of an important fair. Of the medieval village, only Porta Sant'Angelo remains.
The foundation of the Church attached to the Franciscan monastery of Santa Croce (suppressed in 1653) dates from 1295. The facade of the church is of alternating rows of white and pink stone from Mount Subasio; inside are detached frescos from the school of B. Caporali and of Tiberio d'Assisi, as well as a triptych by N. Alunno (1499). Alongside is the new Church of San Michele Arcangelo, with valuable works of art.
The Romanesque Church of San Paolo (11th century) near the cemetery, still stands from the ancient Benedictine convent where, in 1212, Saint Claire sheltered in her flight from relatives who wished to prevent her from adhering to the Franciscan movement. A banner by the painter Dono Doni, who was from Assisi, is conserved in the restored Church of San Rocco.