The Church and Convent of Saint Francis in Amelia
A memory of Francis’s presence
According to tradition, Francis of Assisi is said to have visited Amelia in 1213; in memory of his stay, an initial Franciscan settlement arose outside the town centre, where today stands the Church of Santa Maria delle Cinque Fonti. With the election of Bonaventure of Bagnoregio as Minister of the Franciscan Order in 1257, it was decided to locate Franciscan convents within the city walls. Thus, in 1287, Friar Bartolomeo of Amelia founded, on a pre-existing site, a new Franciscan church dedicated to Saints Philip and James, along with an adjoining convent. The entire complex was later dedicated to Saint Francis. Work must certainly have been completed around 1291, since in that year Pope Nicholas IV granted a forty-day indulgence to the faithful who visited the church.
The current structure largely dates back to reconstruction work carried out in the 15th century. Between 1401 and 1406, Menuccio Menucci of Amelia, Giovanni di Nicola of Castel dell’Aquila, and Santo di Domenico di Carignoli from Todi built the beautiful façade of the building. In 1447, the masters Francesco and Guglielmo of Lombardy erected the bell tower, which still shows traces of its original masonry inside. Between the 16th and 17th centuries, the church was renovated to build the choir loft; the reconstruction of the windows in the apse and along the nave date from this period.
Major alterations were carried out between 1664 and 1767, when the interior was entirely transformed in Baroque style. This led to the near-total loss of the original painted decoration and the ancient trussed roof.
The most recent interventions date back to 1942, when the adjoining convent was converted into a boarding school.
A church that is a true palimpsest of eras and styles
Located near one of the ancient gates of the historic town of Amelia, the church surprises visitors with its layered style. The exterior still largely retains its Gothic appearance, especially along the side walls and in the apse area.
The façade, built in 1401 by local stonemasons, is made of travertine blocks. A dentil cornice divides it into two large sections: an upper one, featuring a finely worked double rose window at the center and a motif of lobed arches following the slope of the gabled roof; and a lower one, where the beautiful marble portal opens. The rose window and the portal originate from the medieval settlement that predated the Franciscan rebuilding and were incorporated into the “new” Franciscan structure.
The current bell tower dates to 1932: it was rebuilt after the collapse of the previous one due to an earthquake, based on a design by engineer Gioacchino Santori.
The interior consists of a single nave with a barrel vault, a raised presbytery surmounted by a dome, and three terminal apses. Completely renovated in 1767, it has a distinctly Baroque appearance. The only reminder of the earlier construction is the small room leading to the choir loft, to the left of the entrance door. Fifteenth-century frescoes once adorned the counter-façade, arranged in three registers: some figures survive in the middle and lower registers, including a fine Crucifixion in the style of the Giotto school.
