San Francesco, Piacenza

The church and adjacent monastery were built for the Friars Minor, a member of the Franciscan order, between 1278 and 1363 under the patronage of the Ghibelline Umbertino Landi, who donated the land.

From this church in 1547, Count Agostino Landi addressed the assembled people to announce that he and other nobles had murdered Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma.

The layout of this church resembles the plan of the basilica of San Francesco in Bologna, including the apse with radiating chapels.

The façade is made with simple brick with two thin buttresses flanking the central portal and a rose window.

The central portico has a rounded marble Romanesque arch with recessed thin columns, and sculptural relief in the lunette depicting St Francis receives Stigmata (1480).

In the chapel of St Francis is a depiction of the Descent of the Holy Spirit painted by Giuseppe, the brother of CF Nuvoloni, and originally found at the former church of Santo Spirito.