San Francesco, Acqui Terme

San Francesco is a Roman Catholic church located on Corso Roma at Piazza San Francesco, in Acqui Terme, Province of Alessandria, region of Piedmont, Italy.

History

A church at the site, dedicated to St John, was present since perhaps the seventh-century, since nearby Christian burial appear to date from then. In around 1244, the church began to be administered by priests from the Cathedral of Acqui. Around 1410, it became associated with the Franciscan order, and rebuilt and rededicated. The convent was suppressed in 1802, and the church was affiliated with the Confraternity of San Giuseppe, who briefly changed the name of the church. In 1824, the Franciscans returned, and they rebuilt the church in a neoclassic-style, adding the Facade, under the design of Ferraris in 1835, completed in 1854.

Parts of the church are ancient. The bell-tower and apse date to the 15th century. But other parts reflect refurbishments along the centuries, including the 19th-century reconstruction. The broad brick facade (1835–1854) shows eclectic styles with a triangular lower tympanum and monumental order pilasters.

The interior houses an ''Immaculate Conception'' by il Moncalvo; an ''Adoration of the Magi'' by Raffael Angelo Soleri; and a ''Madonna and Child with Saint Francis and Antony of Padua'' by Pietro Beccaria. The ceilings were frescoed by the 19th-century painter Pietro Ivaldi, detto ''il Muto di Toleto''.Pietro Ivaldi website

References

Roman Catholic churches in Acqui Terme
14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
Neoclassical architecture in Piedmont
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1853
Neoclassical church buildings in Italy

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