The Rose garden

This area of the Sanctuary is what remains of the old forest where the friars lived. Here the rose garden is situated amongst whose thorns Francis rolled himself one night in order to overcome doubt and temptation.
According to a tradition, already attested to in the thirteenth century, the briars on contact with the Poor Man's body turned into roses without thorns, the origin of the "Rosa Canina Assisiensis", which continues to flower only at the Porziuncola.

The Courtyard of the Roses

The courtyard, constructed in 1882, crosses and connects the Basilica with some of the places most sacred to the memory of St. Francis, who passed the greater part of his life here.
To this place he always returned, as the centre of attraction for his spirit, after the long missionary journeys.

The bronze monument of Vincenzo Rossignoli (1916) depicts the episode where Francis accepts the gift of a lamb because of its innocence and simplicity.