\n<\/p>\n
Saint Francis of Assisi\u2019s skeleton is going on full public display from Sunday for the first time, in a move that is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors.<\/p>\n
Inside a nitrogen-filled case with the Latin inscription \u201cCorpus Sancti Francisci\u201d (the body of Saint Francis), the remains are being shown in the Italian hillside town\u2019s Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.<\/p>\n
St Francis, who died on 3 October 1226, founded the Franciscan order after renouncing his wealth and devoting his life to the poor.<\/p>\n
<\/span>The bones of St Francis of Assisi are displayed inside a nitrogen-filled case.<\/span> Photograph: Gianluigi Basilietti\/EPA<\/p>\n Giulio Cesareo, the director of communications for the Franciscan convent in Assisi, said he hoped the display could be \u201ca meaningful experience\u201d for believers and non-believers alike.<\/p>\n Cesareo, a Franciscan friar, said the \u201cdamaged\u201d and \u201cconsumed\u201d state of the bones showed that St Francis \u201cgave himself completely\u201d to his life\u2019s work.<\/p>\n <\/span>Friars pray before the remains in the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi on Saturday.<\/span> Photograph: Gregorio Borgia\/AP<\/p>\n His remains, which will be on display until 22 March, were transferred to the basilica built in the saint\u2019s honour in 1230. But it was only in 1818, after excavations carried out in utmost secrecy, that his tomb was rediscovered.<\/p>\n Apart from previous exhumations for inspection and scientific examination, the bones of Saint Francis have only been displayed once, in 1978, to a very limited audience and for only one day.<\/p>\n <\/span>People queue to visit the display.<\/span> Photograph: Gregorio Borgia\/AP<\/p>\n Usually hidden from view, the transparent case containing the relics since 1978 was brought out on Saturday from the metal coffer in which it is kept inside his stone tomb in the crypt of the basilica. The case is itself inside another bulletproof and anti-burglary glass case.<\/p>\n Surveillance cameras will operate 24 hours a day for added protection of the remains.<\/p>\n <\/span>People leave the basilica after their visit.<\/span> Photograph: Gregorio Borgia\/AP<\/p>\n Saint Francis is Italy\u2019s patron saint and a public holiday is to be reinstated on 4 October to mark the 800th anniversary commemorations of his death.<\/p>\n Reservations to see the saint\u2019s remains already number \u201calmost 400,000 [people] coming from all parts of the world, with of course a clear predominance from Italy\u201d, said Marco Moroni, the guardian of the Franciscan convent. \u201cBut we also have Brazilians, North Americans, Africans,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n <\/span>People pass through security checks as they queue to see the display.<\/span> Photograph: Gregorio Borgia\/AP<\/p>\n During this time of year, the basilica usually has 1,000 visitors a day on weekdays, rising to 4,000 at weekends, but the Franciscans said they were expecting this to rise to 15,000 visitors on weekdays and up to 19,000 on Saturdays and Sundays for the month-long display of the remains.<\/p>\n Cesareo said: \u201cFrom the very beginning, since the time of the catacombs, Christians have venerated the bones of martyrs, the relics of martyrs, and they have never really experienced it as something macabre.\u201d<\/p>\n Experts said the extended display of Saint Francis\u2019s remains should not affect their state of preservation. \u201cThe display case is sealed, so there is no contact with the outside air. In reality, it remains in the same conditions as when it was in the tomb,\u201d Cesareo said.<\/p>\n The light, which will remain subdued in the church, should also not have an effect. \u201cThe basilica will not be lit up like a stadium,\u201d Cesareo said. \u201cThis is not a movie set.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Saint Francis of Assisi\u2019s skeleton is going on full public display from Sunday for the first time, in a move that is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors. Inside a nitrogen-filled case with the Latin inscription \u201cCorpus Sancti Francisci\u201d (the body of Saint Francis), the remains are being shown in the Italian hillside<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[23242,179,5391,4397,177,22025,15923,286],"class_list":{"0":"post-44971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-assisis","9":"tag-display","10":"tag-francis","11":"tag-italy","12":"tag-public","13":"tag-saint","14":"tag-skeleton","15":"tag-time"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}