Basilica di San Francesco (Siena)

The Basilica of San Francesco is one of Siena's largest churches. Its broad Gothic nave preserves detached frescoes by Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti alongside the devotional tradition of the Sacre Particole, hosts recovered after a theft in 1730.

Why it matters

The church's scale reflects the Franciscans' role in civic and religious life: a wide nave and transept create a large preaching space beneath timber roofs. Its artistic history spans medieval frescoes and later works, while the preserved hosts remain a focus of local devotion.

What to notice

The nave and transept follow an Egyptian-cross plan, with open timber trusses overhead. Detached frescoes include Pietro Lorenzetti's Crucifixion and fragments by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, among them the Martyrdom of Six Franciscans. On the counterfacade, Sassetta's Coronation of the Virgin was completed by Sano di Pietro in 1450; Sodoma's Nativity is nearby. The rose window is the surviving element of the fifteenth-century façade associated with Francesco di Giorgio Martini. A later neo-Gothic brick façade and a pointed marble portal frame the exterior.

Context and history

The Franciscans acquired the site in the 1220s; the present Gothic church rose between 1326 and 1475. A fire in 1655 left it badly damaged, and Giuseppe Partini led a major restoration in the late nineteenth century. The current façade was built between 1894 and 1913, and the bell tower dates to 1763–65. In 1730, 351 consecrated hosts were stolen and recovered three days later at Santa Maria in Provenzano. The archdiocese reports that 223 remain; they are traditionally displayed on the seventeenth of each month.