The Church of St. Francis in San Marino is located right in front of the San Francis Gate (1361), the main entrance to the ancient walled city and today the historic center of the capital.
Attached to the church is the convent of the Friars Minor Conventual, both founded in 1361.
This is the oldest sanctuary in the Republic of San Marino, restored numerous times during the 17th and 18th centuries in the neoclassical style that distinguishes it today.
Only the facade and the three-arched porch have recently been restored to their original lines by architect Gino Zani (1882-1964).
The convent, which was the seat of the Studio Sammarinese, originally stood in the locality of Murata: it was Pope Clement VII who granted permission to move it to a safer place because of the constant raids by the Malatesta.
The wooden crucifix on the high altar dates from the 14th century and may have come from the ancient Church of Murata.
On March 15, 1966, the San Marino Museum and Art Gallery was inaugurated in the two loggias of the cloister, inside which are several treasures including a portrait of St. Francis by Guercino and works by other authors of the 15th and 16th centuries.
