San Francesco is a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

church in

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

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 Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It was erected in c. 1228-1255 and later enlarged in the 14th-15th centuries, the original Romanesque edifice being turned into the current large

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

one.

Architecture

The basilica is on the Egyptian Cross plan, with a nave covered by spans and a transept, according to type favoured by the

Mendicant Orders Mendicant orders are primarily certain Catholic Church, Catholic religious orders that have vowed for their male members a lifestyle of vow of poverty, poverty, traveling, and living in urban areas for purposes of preacher, preaching, Evangelis ...

, which needed spaces capable to house large crowds of faithful. The current interior looks rather sober after a fire in 1655 and the restoration of 1885–1892, when many of the Baroque altars were demolished (some of the paintings has been however returned in recent times). The neo-Gothic façade, flanked by the 1763 campanile, dates to the early 20th century. The medieval marble decoration and the 15th century portal were removed in that occasion. Toscana Siena9 tango7174

Interior

The counterfaçade houses the remains of two 14th century sepulchres, as well as two large fragmentary frescoes from the city gates of Porta Romana and Porta Pispini: a ''Coronation of the Virgin'' by

Sassetta ''For the village near Livorno, see Sassetta, Tuscany'' Stefano di Giovanni di Consolo, known as il Sassetta (–1450) was a List of Italian painters, Tuscan painter of the Italian Renaissance painting, Renaissance, and a significant figure of th ...

and

Sano di Pietro Sano may refer to: Geography * Sano, Kentucky, U.S. * Sano, Tochigi, Japan * Monte Sano Mountain, a mountain in Alabama, United States ** Monte Sano State Park * Wai Sano, a volcano in Flores, Indonesia Fiction * Sano (''Rurouni Kenshin''), a ch ...

(1447–1450) and a ''Nativity'' by

Il Sodoma Il Sodoma (1477 – 14 February 1549) was the name given to the Italy, Italian Renaissance Painting, painter Giovanni Antonio Bazzi. Il Sodoma painted in a manner that superimposed the High Renaissance style of early 16th-century Rome onto the tr ...

(1531). Also visible is the ancient 15th century portal by

Francesco di Giorgio Martini Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439–1501) was an Italian architect, engineer, painter, sculptor, and writer. As a painter, he belonged to the Sienese School. He was considered a visionary architectural theorist—in Nikolaus Pevsner's terms ...

. Among the numerous artworks in the church, are ''Madonna with Child and Saints'' by

Jacopo Zucchi Jacopo Zucchi (c. 1541– c. 1590) was a Florence, Florentine painter of the Mannerism, Mannerist style, active in Florence and Rome. His training began in the studio of Giorgio Vasari, and he participated in the decoration of the Studiolo of Fra ...

, an expressive ''Crucifixion'' by

Pietro Lorenzetti Pietro Lorenzetti (; – 1348) or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Ambrogio, he introduced Realism (arts), naturalism into Sienese School, Sienese art. In the ...

and a fresco by his brother

Ambrogio Ambrogio is a given name, and may refer to: * Saint Ambrogio (Ambrose), patron saint of Milan *Ambrogio Lorenzetti ( – 1348), painter * Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, the birth name of Pope Pius XI *Ambrogio Bergognone, Renaissance painter *Am ...

, a ''Prayer of St James'' by

Giuseppe Nicola Nasini Giuseppe Nicola Nasini (January 25, 1657 – July 3, 1736) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period and active in Rome and Tuscany. Biography Born in Castel del Piano, now known as Province of Grosseto, Giuseppe was the son of the painter ...

, a ''Martyrdom of St Martina'' by

Pietro da Cortona Pietro da Cortona (; 1 November 1596 or 159716 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman ...

and a ''Madonna with Child'' frescoed by Jacopo di Mino del Pellicciaio. In the right transept is a 14th-century marble of ''St Francis'', from the ancient façade.

External links

{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1255 Churches completed in the 1250s

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 ...

Gothic architecture in Siena Francesco Siena 13th-century establishments in the Republic of Siena 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy