{"id":3613,"date":"2025-05-09T10:28:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T08:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/percorsi-turistici.comune.pisa.it\/?post_type=fermata&p=3613"},"modified":"2025-12-04T12:13:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T11:13:33","slug":"church-of-san-francesco","status":"publish","type":"fermata","link":"https:\/\/percorsi-turistici.comune.pisa.it\/en\/fermata\/church-of-san-francesco\/","title":{"rendered":"Church of San Francesco"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Il cartello \u00e8 stato realizzato in occasione del Giubileo 2025. Per informazioni visita il sito ufficiale del giubileo\u00a0https:\/\/www.iubilaeum2025.va\/it.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

FERDINANDUS MAGNUS DUX ETR.III AN. SAL. M.D.CIII: the fa\u00e7ade bears the name <\/strong>of Grand Duke Ferdinando I de\u2019 Medici<\/strong>, who commissioned the work, and the year of construction, but the history of this building began in 1233, with a first small oratory dedicated to the saint of Assisi. Starting from 1261, work began on the current church, which transformed it into one of the largest Franciscan monasteries in Italy. With large foundations of stone material from Monte Pisano supporting the mighty brick structure, this colossus almost 100 meters long is the work<\/strong> of architect Giovanni di Simone<\/strong>, the author of the Monumental Campo Santo in Piazza dei Miracoli and saviour of the Leaning Tower thanks to a project to correct the first inclination. His mastery was manifested in the construction of towers and the church bell tower is a beautiful example of his skills: suspended, resting only on two perimeter walls in which the architect inserted two corbels to support a well of concentric bricks lightened by arches. Its slender figure, marked by a cell opened by mullioned windows and a cuspidal roof, is visible from a great distance. The fa\u00e7ade is in white marble and marks the end of the work of the first fourteenth-century intervention, interrupted due to the Pisan economic crisis after the plague and the Florentine conquest of the city. Inside, the perspective of the high walls is marked by large windows designed by Ignazio Pellegrini in 1757, and by the Gothic windows of the apse chapels, introduced by a large arch that divides the nave from the transept like a proscenium, revealing the marble dossal of the altar (c. 1370) made by Tommaso Pisano, son of the great Andrea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History in a nutshell<\/strong>: <\/strong>built on a pre-existing church in 1261, its works continued until the 15th century, when the whole church was turned into a barrack and later became the Collegio della Sapienza<\/strong> (College of Wisdom), founded by Cosimo I de\u2019 Medici <\/strong>in 1543. It was the seat of the Inquisitioncourt <\/strong>in 1575 and in 1787 was donated to the Augustinians until the Napoleonic desecration. In this period, the convent became a hospital, and later a depot for artillery wagons. Only in 1901 was it returned to the Franciscans and reopened for worship.The chapels<\/strong>: from the left we find the chapel of the Martyrs <\/em>with frescoes from the workshop of Agnolo Gaddi <\/strong>from the last decade of the fourteenth century; the second chapel is that of the Conception<\/em>, where once the beautiful Majesty <\/em>by Cimabue <\/strong>(1280) was kept (now in the Louvre); follows the chapel of Agostini della Seta<\/strong>, with frescoes by Francesco Neri da Volterra <\/strong>restored by Galileo Chini <\/strong>in 1901. Here the table of San Francesco <\/em>by GiuntaPisano <\/strong>from 1255 was kept (now in the National Museum of San Matteo in Pisa); in the main chapel we find a cycle of frescoes attributed to Jacopo di Mino del Pellicciano <\/strong>from 1342 (vault), paintings by Galileo Chini and a band with St. Peter attributed to Taddeo Gaddi <\/strong>(bottom right); the chapel of SS. Sacramento preserved the table depicting San Francesco receiving the stigmata <\/em>by Giotto <\/strong>from 1295-1300 (now in the Louvre, here we see a copy); follows the chapel of the Gherardesca with the beautiful triptych with Sant’Antonio <\/em>by Ventura Salimbeni <\/strong>and Giovanni Stefano Marucelli <\/strong>( Jesus); at the end, the chapel of the Fantini with the triptych of the Sacred Heart of Jesus <\/em>by Francesco Manetti <\/strong>(1908).
Noteworthy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n