One of the few one-room churches in the city, the Church of St Francis is one of the first of its kind in the peninsula following the death of the saint from Assisi (1226).
The Franciscans lived there from 1228 to 2003.
The construction of the building was completed around 1430, the interior decoration took place between the 14th and 17th centuries, while the façade, clad in white limestone, remained unfinished until 1930.
In 1840, the church became private property and the paintings were transferred to various museums in the city. In 1901, the building returned to the ownership of the Municipality of Lucca, and in 1910 it was reopened for worship.
Over eight centuries of history, the original oratory dedicated to Mary Magdalene has changed its appearance to become a jewel of ‘mendicant’ architecture that was completely recovered with an impressive restoration in 2013.
The solemn yet austere appearance and the white and imposing façade offer one of the most evocative views of Lucca, while the interior presents itself as a single room punctuated by elegant side altars and three splendid terminal apses, decorated with frescoes and stained glass windows.
Over time, the tombs and memorial plaques of many important citizens of Lucca have been collected inside the church: Giovanni Guidiccioni, Ugolino Visconti, Francesco Geminiani, Luigi Boccherini and Giacomo Puccini.
Behind the high altar, the large inlaid wooden choir stalls with the pipe organ, built between 1930 and 1940, and the lectern, also inlaid wooden, are still in use.
A historic point of reference for the city's needy and a prestigious studium, San Francesco is part of a complex that, around three luminous cloisters, sees the development of a veritable ‘citadel’ of 12,000 square metres, now used as a campus for the Scuola di Alti Studi IMT.
The large church is open to the public for visits at weekends and often hosts important cultural events.