Chiesa di San Francesco

The Church of San Francesco is a large brick church in Lucca, with a single broad nave and a pale limestone façade completed in the early twentieth century. Its tombs and memorials connect the former Franciscan church to the city's cultural history.

Why it matters

Franciscans were established at the site by 1228, and the church developed into a major preaching hall. It is also known as a civic pantheon: monuments commemorate figures including the composer Luigi Boccherini, the poet Giovanni Guidiccioni, the musician Francesco Geminiani and Nino Visconti.

What to notice

The brick nave has an open timber-trussed roof and three apses. The façade's upper section was completed around 1930, centuries after the lower part. Inside, altarpieces by Pietro Ricchi, Passignano and Federico Zuccari survive among the church's works of art. Three cloisters form part of the wider complex, now associated with the IMT School for Advanced Studies.

Context and history

The church was completed around 1430 and decorated between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. The complex passed out of Franciscan use in 2003. A restoration and urban-regeneration project culminated in the site's reopening in 2013; the church and cloisters became part of the IMT campus, while the church also hosts cultural events.