San Francesco, Lucca
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San Francesco is a former Gothic-style
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
church and monastery located in Piazza San Francesco in central
Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...
,
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
, Italy. Since its restoration, it has become the home of the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, a superior graduate school.


History

Members of the
Franciscan order The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
were present since 1228, but the church as we see it dates from the 14th century. The church, built out of
gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...
, has an aisle-less with a
truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...
ed roof. It was completed in the early 15th century with the inclusion of three apsidal chapels. The
façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...
, which has two arches either side of the doorway, adopted a coat of white
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
, which remained incomplete, and was completed only in the 20th century. The care taken with the interior design is in parallel with the construction of the complex, which took from the 14th century to the 17th century. Among the tomb monuments in the interior is the monument to Bishop Giovanni Guidiccioni and a lapidary monument to the Condottiero Castruccio Castracani. To the right of the main altar is the monument to Ugolino Visconti, Governor of Pisa, judge of
Gallura Gallura ( or ; ) is a region in North-Eastern Sardinia, Italy. The name ''Gallùra'' is allegedly supposed to mean "stony area". Geography Gallùra has an area of . It is from the Italian peninsula and from the French island of Corsica. ...
in Corsica. He is encountered by his friend Dante Alighieri in Purgatory, awaiting entry to heaven. The church also contains the tombs of
Francesco Geminiani Francesco Xaverio Geminiani (baptised 5 December 1687 – 17 September 1762) was an Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist. BBC Radio 3 once described him as "now largely forgotten, but in his time considered almost a musical god, deem ...
and
Luigi Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and '' galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major classi ...
. Among the paintings is a ''Noli me Tangere'' by Domenico Passignano and a ''Nativity'' by
Federico Zuccari Federico Zuccaro, also known as Federico Zuccari and Federigo Zucchero ( July/August 1609), was an Italian painter, draughtsman, architect and writer. He worked in various cities in Italy, as well as in other countries such as Spain, France, t ...
.The Christian Travelers Guide to Italy
by David Bershad, Carolina Mangone, Irving Hexham, page 89. The panel of ''Bishop Saint and Saint Francis of Assisi'' by Francesco di Andrea Anguilla was part of a
triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...
commissioned for the convent; it is now in the collection of the
Birmingham Museum of Art The Birmingham Museum of Art is a museum in Birmingham, Alabama. Its collection includes more than 24,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and decorative arts representing various cultures, including Asian, European, United States, Amer ...
.


References


External links


Page at toscana.it


{{DEFAULTSORT:Francesco Lucca Roman Catholic churches in Lucca Gothic architecture in Lucca
Francesco Francesco, the Italian language, Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis (given name), Francis", is one of the List of most popular given names, most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name inclu ...
14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Francesco Lucca