Convento di Montesanto

On a low hill west of Todi's walls, the convent of Montesanto preserves a long Franciscan history. A linden tree at the church entrance is associated by tradition with Saint Bernardino's preaching in the early fifteenth century; the convent's former Coronation altarpiece by Giovanni di Pietro, called lo Spagna, is now in the town's picture gallery.

Why it matters

Montesanto’s Franciscan history includes the traditional association with Bernardino da Siena and the old linden at the church entrance. The complex is also connected to Todi's art collections through the altarpiece painted by lo Spagna in 1511 and later moved to the civic picture gallery.

What to notice

The old linden by the church entrance is traditionally linked to Bernardino da Siena's preaching in 1426. The church preserves a seventeenth-century fresco cycle by Cristoforo Sermei and a former monastery pharmacy. The Coronation altarpiece by lo Spagna, once above the altar, was taken into the town's collection after the nineteenth-century suppressions.

Context and history

The hill, once called Monte Mascarano, is associated in the convent's history with a temple dedicated to Mars and Bellona. In 1235 the abbot of San Fortunato ceded the site to Ruggero da Todi, at Pope Gregory IX's request, for a Poor Clares monastery. The nuns left in 1367, after which Cardinal Albornoz converted the complex into a fortress. In 1448 the town entrusted it to the Observant Franciscans, who developed it as a house of study. The friars were expelled in 1866 and returned in 1895.