Santa Maria Maggiore was Assisi's cathedral before that title moved to San Rufino in the 11th century, and it remains one of the oldest churches in town. The simple Romanesque facade, with three doors and a single rose window, hides a plain, dimly lit interior of bare stone.
The site is more interesting for what happened outside it than what is in it. The square in front of the church, the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore, was the location of Francis's renunciation of his father's wealth — depicted in one of the Giotto frescoes in the basilica. A small museum in the crypt holds frescoes from the original church.