Assisi should be a perfect Umbrian hill town. It's a tiered overgrown village of pink and pale-gray stone drawn out along a mountainside and surrounded by a valley patchwork of fields and olive groves. It boasts Roman roots, a glowering castle and twisting alleyways from the Middle Ages, and some of Italy's finest early Renaissance art--all backed by the brilliant green slope of sacred Mt. Subasio. But this city with a population of less than 3,000 (and shrinking) has, in the late 20th century, seen an average of 4 to 5 million visitors every year. This constant flood of travelers has polished the usual hilltown charm right off Assisi. Countless pilgrims, art lovers, and just plain curious travelers over the last 700 years have imparted to the town a thick tourist shellac it often can't quite shake even in its quietest, least visited corners. It's no accident the University of Perugia's "tourism studies" program is based here.

All this aside, Assisi is still one of Italy's top sights, ranking with the Colosseum, Pompeii, and Venice's canals. It preserves the remarkably intact portico of a Roman temple on its main square, one of the better-preserved Albornoz Roccas with sweeping views, and a two-story basilica hulking at one end of town that's a festival of frescoes. The basilica showcases the talents of the greatest geniuses of the early Renaissance, both Sienese (Pietro Lorenzetti and Simone Martini) and Florentine (Cimabue and the incomparable Giotto).

In the late Middle Ages, Assisi witnessed the birth and lives of saints Clare and Francis. Francis is Italy's patron saint, founder of one of the world's largest monastic orders, and generally considered just about the holiest person to walk the earth since Jesus. The town is choked with visitors Easter to June, and you sometimes can't move in the basilica on religious holiday weekends. The tourism support network, though, is in full force only when the crowds are in town, so while Assisi is packed beyond the limits in high season (book well in advance), you'll find it a ghost town January to March, when about three-quarters of the hotels, restaurants, and museums close.

Earthquakes in 1997 rocked the heart of Umbria. In Assisi, the Santa Chiara church and the Duomo were both damaged, but the Basilica di San Francesco was the worst hit. Part of the ceiling in the upper church collapsed, killing four people, destroying frescoes by Cimabue and his followers, and damaging Giotto's Life of St. Francis frescoes. Knowing the Papal Jubilee celebrations would begin at Christmas 1999, the Pope pulled some strings (luckily, the basilica is the only sovereign land belonging to the Vatican outside Rome's Vatican City) and restoration has sped along at a remarkable pace. The lower church reopened within weeks. It actually looks as if they might finish repairs to the upper church and its frescoes by early 2000. So, while the restoration of the entire structure may take a few more years to complete, chances are both the upper and the lower church will be open by the time you visit.

The rest of Assisi wasn't so lucky. The Duomo is still swathed in scaffolding, and many streets have become dense tunnels of wood supports desperately shoring up the medieval buildings on either side to keep them from falling in on each other. Doorways and arches have been filled in with temporary struts; the Palazzo Comunale on the main square is under wraps for the foreseeable future, effectively closing the Pinacoteca; and hundreds of residents are still living in "temporary" structures outside the town. It'll be a long time until Assisi recovers fully. However, it's a testament to the caliber of Assisian sights that what remains open is still more than worth the journey here. Realize that all the sightseeing information is subject to change as they repair the city; call the tourist office for the latest details before you visit.