San Francesco is a 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 ...

, Franciscan church in

Cagli Cagli is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, Marche, central Italy. It is c. south of Urbino. The Burano flows near the town. History Cagli occupies the site of an ancient village on the Via Flaminia, which seems to have ...

, province of Pesaro e Urbino, region of

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, Italy.

History

Construction of this church began in 1234 and was completed in 1240; at the time, it was outside the city walls. The polychrome marble portal (1348) with its inlaid lintel and spiral columns is sculpted with animal and vegetal motifs. The lunette above has a much repainted fresco of the ''Madonna del Soccorso with Saints Francis and John the Baptist'', attributed to Guido Palmerucci. The entire structure including the bell-tower are tall, as is typical for Gothic architecture. At one period, the choir displayed a polyptych (1465) by

Niccolò Alunno Niccolò di Liberatore, known as L'Alunno (also Niccolò di Liberatore and Niccolò da Foligno; the name is sometimes spelled Nicolò) (1430–1502) was an Italian painter of the Umbrian school. Life and career He was born at Foligno, the son o ...

; but that was looted by the Napoleonic forces and now is called the ''Polyptych of Cagli'' and housed in Milan at the

Pinacoteca di Brera The Pinacoteca di Brera ("Brera Art Gallery") is the main public gallery for paintings in Milan, Italy. It contains one of the foremost collections of Italian paintings from the 13th to the 20th century, an outgrowth of the cultural program of ...

. An original altarpiece by

Simone Cantarini Simone Cantarini or Simone da Pesaro, called ''il Pesarese'' (Baptized on 21 August 1612 – 15 October 1648) was an Italian Painting, painter and etcher. He is known mainly for his history paintings and portraits executed in an original styl ...

was also looted, and now houses a ''Miracle of the Snow'' (1617) by Ernst van Schayck. In 1579, frescoes in the apse were covered over with stucco. In the 19th century, the cycle of frescoes, dating to the 1340s, were recovered. For example, one (1438), one depicting a ''Saint Antony of Padua and the Eucharistic Miracle of the Mule in Rimini'' once attributed to Antonio Alberti of Ferrara, now attributed to the Secondo Maestro of the Oratory of St John the Baptist, Urbino. Others are attributed Mello da Gubbio and show influences of the Sienese painter

Ambrogio Lorenzetti Ambrogio Lorenzetti (; – after 9 August 1348) was an Italian painter of the Sienese school. He was active from approximately 1317 to 1348. He painted ''The Allegory of Good and Bad Government'' in the Sala dei Nove (Salon of Nine or Council Ro ...

. Two fragments of 14th century frescoes on the counter façade are attributed to the circle of the Maestro of Montemartello. On the side altars the principal works (counterclockwise from the right) are: paintings by

Gaetano Lapis Gaetano Lapis (1706–1773) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period. Biography Lapis was born on 13 August 1706 in the central Italian city of Cagli, the son of Filippo Lapis, a wool merchant, and his wife Olimpia Orlandini of Cantian ...

(1730); a processional wooden crucifix (after 1750) from the Northern European school. The late-16th-century organ is attributed to Baldassarre Malamini . Beside it, on the left, is one of three wash drawings by Battaglini da Imola from 1529 (the other two are beside the main altar). The second altar on the right was made in 1598 by Taddeo Bonaventura from Città di Castello. It once held a canvas by

Federico Barocci Federico Barocci (also written Barozzi) ( – 30 September 1612) was an Italian Renaissance painter and printmaker. His original name was Federico Fiori, and he was nicknamed Il Baroccio. His work was highly esteemed and influential, and foresha ...

that moved to Rome. It is replaced by the 1938 painting depicting ''Jesus appears to Santa Rita''. The 3rd altar on the left has a canvas depicting the ''Miracle of the Madonna of the Snows'' (1730) by

. Beside the altar is the tomb (1372) of the Blessed Giovannino by Antonio da Cagli. The lateral walls has canvases depicting an ''Enthroned Madonna and Child with the Magdalen, and Saints Chlare and Monica, Ludovico, and Anthony of Padua'' (1529) by Francesco Battaglini. In the center of the apse above the wooden choir is the 17th-century altarpiece of the ''Stigmata of St Francis''. The second altar (1622) to the left was created by Elpidio Finale. The bas-reliefs depict scenes from the life of Franciscan Saints. The first altar on the left houses an altarpiece depicting ''Madonna and Child with Saints Roch, Francis, Geronzio, Stefano e Sebastiano'' (1540) by

Raffaellino del Colle Raffaellino del Colle (1490–1566) was an Italian Mannerist painter active mostly in Umbria. He was born in the frazione of Colle in Borgo Sansepolcro, province of Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy. Biography He is also called ''Raffaellino della Colle' ...

. In the piazza in front of the church is a bronze statue of Angelo Celli, by Angelo Biancini, erected in 1959, in front of the loggia built in 1885. Region of Marche
tourism site.

References

{{Coord, 43.5457, N, 12.6486, E, source:wikidata, display=title Roman Catholic churches in Cagli Romanesque architecture in le Marche 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Buildings and structures completed in 1240 Churches completed in the 1240s