Chiesa di San Francesco

Cividale's former Franciscan church of San Francesco preserves a Gothic nave and frescoes from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. Damaged by fire in 1917, the building was restored and is recorded as a venue for exhibitions and cultural events.

Why it matters

The Franciscans established themselves in Cividale in the thirteenth century, and San Francesco became both a religious building and a place for public assemblies, known as arenghi. Its single nave, gabled façade and Romanesque bell tower reflect the church's medieval form. The building's later history, including wartime damage and its present cultural use, adds another layer to Cividale's architectural record.

What to notice

The apses rise above the Natisone gorge near the Ponte del Diavolo. The square Romanesque bell tower beside the façade has four biforate windows. Inside, fresco fragments span the early fourteenth to mid-sixteenth centuries. They include a Redeemer in a mandorla, an Annunciation and a Crucifixion attributed to followers of Vitale da Bologna, an Adoration of the Magi linked to a follower of Altichiero, and saints associated with the Rimini school. A tomb bearing a coat of arms dated 1230 stands in the presbytery. The wooden trussed roof preserves the nave's Gothic structure.

Context and history

The Franciscans moved to the site in 1285, where tradition places an earlier Lombard ducal chapel. Patriarch Raimondo della Torre authorised the church and convent in 1296, and the building's origins belong to the final decades of the thirteenth century. The church hosted public assemblies for centuries. During the Caporetto retreat in 1917 it was set on fire; subsequent restoration preserved the structure and its surviving frescoes. The sacristy contains frescoes by Giulio Quaglio the Younger from 1693, stuccoes by Retti and furniture by Giacomo Brollo dated 1694. The deconsecrated church is recorded as a venue for exhibitions and cultural events.