San Francesco is a

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 located on Via San Francesco #7 in

Fidenza Fidenza (, locally ) is a town and (municipality) in the province of Parma, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. It has around 27,000 inhabitants. The town was renamed Fidenza in 1927, recalling its ancient Rome, Roman name of ; before, it was ...

Province of Parma The province of Parma () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its largest town and capital is the city of Parma. It is made up of 47 ''comuni'' (: ''comune''). It has an area of and a total population of aro ...

, Italy.

History

The

Franciscans 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 orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

were late in arriving to Fidenza, and in 1573 were housed in the church of Santa Maria della Rocca, inside the town's castle walls. By two years later, they had built a nearby convent. But conflicts with the soldiers led to them moving in 1582 to a site near what is today the ''Parco delle Rimembranze'', where by 1585 they built a church and convent. They were expelled from these premises in 1866/67 by the new civil authorities, and found homes in various spots, the Oratorio del Pilastro; then in 1876 in the Oratorio della Crocetta. Here they rebuilt a new convent, and a church was built in 1883-1884 and dedicated to the '' Sacro Cuore di Gesù''. The church was built in brick, in a simple style recalling Lombard-Romanesque. The first chapel on the left has the tombs of Enrichetta d’Este and Leopoldo d’Assia Darmstadt completed by the sculptor Boudard in 1765. A number of other artworks were moved here, including an ''Enthroned Madonna with Child and Saints'' by (1718) by Giovanni Battista Tagliasacchi. The Franciscan convent and parish are still active.Parrocchia San Francesco Fidenza
website.

References

Churches in Fidenza Roman Catholic churches in Emilia-Romagna 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1585 {{EmiliaRomagna-RC-church-stub