Month-Long Public Display of Saint Francis’s Relics Opens in Assisi

Overview

• The ostension runs from February 22 to March 22 in the lower basilica, with continuous queues reported since opening morning.
• Organizers report nearly 400,000 reservations, with timed entry of about 750 visitors every 30 minutes and projected flows of roughly 15,000 on weekdays and up to 19,000 on weekends.
• The remains lie in a sealed plexiglass vitrine inside an outer bullet‑proof glass case that visitors may touch, all under 24‑hour camera surveillance.
• Friars and conservation experts say inert, sealed conditions and low lighting should prevent any alteration of the bones during the exhibition.
• Outside scientific exhumations, the relics were shown only once before to a very limited public in 1978, following the tomb’s rediscovery in 1818.