''San Francesco'' is a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

-style,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church in the lower town of

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. History The city's origins are very ancient. ...

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

, in Italy.

History

St Francis of Assisi, who was closely associated with Gubbio, supposedly was once housed in a room adjacent to the church. Tradition holds that the site belonged to Giacomello Spadalunga, who clothed St Francis after his encounter with robber. This church is different than the smaller chapel or oratory of ''San Francesco della Pace'' in Gubbio, built by the Guild of Masons and Stonecutters. This church was built putatively on the cave where, according to tradition, the Wolf of Gubbio lived and where the wolf was buried. The

style church was built by 1256, and decoration was completed by 1291. The present octagonal bell tower was constructed in the 14th century. The interior was reconstructed in the 18th century, though the church contains some of the original faded fresco work from the 15th century. In the interior,

Ottaviano Nelli Ottaviano Nelli (1375–1444?) was an Italian painter of the early Quattrocento. Nelli primarily painted frescoes, but also panel paintings. He had several pupils and two painters were influenced by him. Biography He was born in Gubbio in Umb ...

painted a series of frescoes, mainly depicting the ''Story of the Virgin Mary'' (circa 1410–1415). The center apse has a fresco of ''Christ blessing with four saints'' by an anonymous late 13th century painter. Other 14th century frescoes can be found throughout the church and adjacent convent. The church has an altarpiece depicting the ''Immaculate Conception'' by

Antonio Gherardi Antonio Gherardi (''Il Reatino'') (20 September 1638 – 10 May 1702) was an Italian painter, architect, and sculptor (stuccoist) of the Baroque style, active mainly in and near Rome and his native city of Rieti. Life Antonio was born in Rieti ...

of Rieti. It contains a ''St Francis before a cross'' (1540) by Benedetto Nucci, and the sacristy has a ''Virgin and child with serpent'' by Benedict's son, Virgilio. Under the altar of San Carlo Borromeo are the remains of a blessed nun of a Franciscan order, Franceschina, who died on July 6, 1255, returning from Assisi.Commune of Gubbio
, entry on church.

References

Roman Catholic churches in Gubbio 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Churches completed in 1291 Franciscan churches in Italy {{Italy-RC-church-stub