Must See San Marino - Chiesa di San Francesco

Founded in 1361, and added holus-bolus to the Grey Friars convent, the Chiesa di San Francesco is the oldest building in the republic. It has suffered the indignities of numerous botched repair jobs and a few unsympathetic restorations, but the front of the building and the porch have been restored to the original line of its original builder, Gino Zani.

The wooden crucifix of the altar dates back to 300AD and probably comes from the antique church of Murata, which Pope Clemente VII had moved to the safer and more defensible location of the San Marino convent when the neighbourhood started going in for turf wars back at the beginning of the 16th century. There are a number of paintings by Niccolo Alunno of Foligno to add artistic and historical credibility to the church, and a rather fetching loggia at the back.

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Tags

• archaeological site, religious/spiritual