Church of San Francesco

The Church of San Francesco is a Catholic church in Lucca, located in the homonymous square. Today, the church is deconsecrated and used as a venue for various events.

SHORT HISTORY

The presence of the Franciscans in Lucca is attested as early as 1228. The church, built at their behest, was completed in 1430.

After a period of neglect, the church became the property of the Municipality of Lucca in 1901, and was reopened for worship in 1910. The facade was completed only at the beginning of the 20th century.

In 2003, the Franciscan friars left the convent and the entire complex was purchased by the Municipality of Lucca. In 2010, after some works on the adjacent buildings damaged the complex, the church was bought by Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Foundation.

The church underwent a major restoration between 2011 and 2013.

ART AND ARCHITECTURE

The facade of the church, completed in 1930, has wider bands of white limestone alternating with narrower bands of gray limestone.

The lower part of the facade presents, in the center, the portal with a painted lunette and, on the sides, two blind round arches with sepulchres. In the upper part, there is a rose window, flanked by four marble coats of arms in bas-relief, which depict, clockwise, from the top left, the symbol of the Franciscan Order, a fasces, the coat of arms of the city of Lucca and a lion rampant.

The interior of the church consists of a single nave covered with a wooden trussed ceiling, illuminated by mullioned windows added in 1844. Along the side walls, which are decorated with monochrome frescoes, there are various marble side altars with painted altarpieces.

At the end of the nave, there is the apse, with a quadrangular plan, covered with a cross vault, flanked by two chapels. In the right chapel, there are the remains of a pictorial cycle attributed to Baldassarre di Biagio of Florence.

The presbytery is bordered by a balustrade and houses the Baroque high altar. In the church, there are various burials, including that of Giovanni Guidiccioni, Ugolino Visconti, Francesco Geminiani and Luigi Boccherini, as well as many important exponents of Lucca history.

HOW TO GET THERE

The Church of San Francesco is located about 1.2 kilometers away from the Lucca railway station. The closest bus stop is San Francesco, located about 100 meters away, on the bus Line LAM Rossa.