Casa di San Bonaventura

A ruin in a quiet corner of Civita di Bagnoregio is traditionally identified as the house where Saint Bonaventure was born and spent his youth. Part of the building was converted into a church in 1524; successive collapses have left only fragments of the original complex.

Why it matters

The site preserves a local tradition connecting Civita with Giovanni Fidanza, the Franciscan theologian known as Bonaventure. The town's account places his birth in Civita di Bagnoregio between 1217 and 1221, while the house itself is associated with the tradition that he was born and raised here. The ruin's connection to the saint remains an important part of the town's religious history.

What to notice

The remains are built into the slope at the edge of the borgo. A fragment of an iron staircase is visible above the void, but it no longer provides a usable route through the ruin. The surviving fabric is limited, so the site's significance lies as much in its association with Bonaventure as in the remains themselves.

Context and history

In 1524 part of the house was converted into a church. Records of the complex are scarce, and later collapses destroyed much of both the house and chapel. Bonaventure, born Giovanni Fidanza, studied in Paris and became one of the principal Franciscan biographers of Saint Francis; his Legenda Maior later inspired Giotto's fresco cycle in Assisi. The site at Civita commemorates that tradition through the remains of the house.