Assisi is linked to Saint Francis, one of Kazantzakis’ spiritual guides. During his first stay there (February – April 1924) he met Johannes Joergensen, one of the saint’s biographers, and studied the life and legends of St. Francis. He later translated Joergensen’s biography and wrote the novel God’s Pauper. Kazantzakis visited Assisi again in 1926 and 1952.