Complesso Monumentale di San Francesco e Museo Civico

The monumental complex of San Francesco in Cuneo combines a medieval Franciscan church and convent with the city's Civic Museum. It is recognised as one of the most important medieval buildings in the city.

Why it matters

The complex preserves masonry and archaeological layers from the thirteenth century onward in a city repeatedly reshaped by siege and rebuilding. Its conversion to cultural use brought together the church, convent and cloister with collections covering Cuneo's history from prehistory to the modern era.

What to notice

The church portal, completed in 1481 by the Zabreri brothers, includes carved coats of arms and later terracotta decoration. Fresco remains include Passion scenes and figures attributed to Pietro da Saluzzo and his circle. Excavations beneath a glass walkway reveal successive floors and stone-lined tombs. The seventeenth-century cloister has painted lunettes depicting stories of Saint Francis.

Context and history

Franciscans settled on the site in the thirteenth century. A first chapel stood by the end of the 1200s, and a larger church was built in the early fifteenth century. After the friars were expelled, the church was used as a storehouse and the convent as barracks; the community did not return. The city acquired the complex in 1967, and the Civic Museum moved there in 1980. Restoration and archaeological work in the 1970s, 1980s and from 2009 onward revealed and conserved the site's layers.