Convento di San Francesco

The surviving cloister of Suvereto’s Convent of San Francesco is a square courtyard with five arches on each side. Founded in the 1280s by the Aldobrandeschi counts of Santa Fiora, the convent was suppressed during the Napoleonic era; the cloister remains among the town’s historic spaces.

Why it matters

The convent anchored the San Francesco quarter, one of Suvereto’s historic terzieri. The municipal heritage account records that the convent held the electoral “borse” containing names drawn for civic administration. Its surviving architecture and history link religious life with the civic life of the borgo.

What to notice

The square cloister has five arcades on pillars along each side. A cistern once stood at its centre; its memory survives in the name of nearby Piazza della Cisterna. Decorated portals bear the Giannetti and Angelieri family crests, while funerary and commemorative inscriptions are set into the masonry. The former convent buildings have been converted to private homes, and only some façade elements of the former church remain.

Context and history

The Comune dates the foundation to 1286, while other references give 1288; the convent was established in the 1280s by the Aldobrandeschi counts of Santa Fiora. It later served the borgo under successive rulers. The complex was closed and dismantled during the Napoleonic suppressions under Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, and the buildings passed into private use. The cloister survived and remains a civic gathering place.