San Francesco, Ascoli Piceno

The Basilica di San Francesco is a Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church located on the Piazza del Popolo in the town of Ascoli Piceno in the region of Marche, Italy.

The central portal is decorated with highly sculpted travertine marble with a detached column with lions atop capitals, showing persisting Romanesque influences.

[2] Along the right flank of the church, facing the Piazza del Popolo, is a lateral entrance surmounted by a monument to Pope Julius II (1506–10).

The people of Ascoli erected statues in the year of our savior 1510[3] This monument honors the pope for imprisoning the Ghibelline tyrant, Astolto Guiderocchi, who had taken control of the city in 1504.

The larger cloister, Chiostro Maggiore also called the Piazza della Verdura houses a daily food market.

View of church from Piazza del Popolo with cupola, bell tower, monument to Julius II, and Aedicule attributed to Lazzaro Morelli
Main facade and portals
Monument to Julius II