Monumental Church of San Francesco

It is a splendid example of architecture linked to the Franciscan order. It was built starting from 1241 to house conventual Franciscans inside the city walls. The church was consecrated in 1315. It stands on the main square of the historic center of Gualdo Tadino, Piazza Martiri della Libertà, on the opposite side of the cathedral of San Benedetto. The façade, however, overlooks Corso Italia, while on the left side there was the convent. The façade is characterized by a gabled roof and by the large gothic portal decorated with capitals, while inside the church, consisting of a single wide nave, has a structure similar to that of the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi. Particularly rich is the decoration of the walls that are frescoed with paintings of the Umbrian-Marche school dated between the fourteenth and the sixteenth century and rediscovered during the restoration of 1955-60, which freed them from the whitewashing carried out in the eighteenth century. The most valuable works are certainly those of Matteo da Gualdo, a Renaissance painter of Gualdese origins but of great impact in the Umbrian school: his are the Madonna with the Child enthroned and the Sants Francesco d'Assisi and Secondo, placed on the counter-façade, the Crucifixion in the apse, the "Madonna with Child and Saint Francis" in the third left arch and the Madonna with Child and Saint Anne on the pillar between the first and the second chapel church. The fifteenth-century wooden choir, the high altar and the pulpit on the left, dating back to the 14th century, are also to be admired. Over the centuries the church of San Francesco has undergone numerous interventions on the structures, in particular after the earthquake of 1751 which caused the collapse of the original bell tower, the destruction of the cross vault of the third bay and damage to the façade and the right side wall.