San Francesco, Pistoia

San Francesco is a Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church located on the piazza of the same name in Pistoia, region of Tuscany, Italy.

Soon after, a few adherents of St Francis had grouped themselves in a small monastery attached to a small church called Santa Maria del Prato or Santa Maria Maddalena, located at about the location of the present church.

As the monastery grew, a new church, representing the present structure, was begun by 1294, dedicated to the Holy Cross, and manned by the Order of Friars Minor Conventual.

While the single nave structure with a number of lateral altars was completed by 1340, modifications and refurbishment proceeded for centuries.

[3] A polyptych at this church by Lippo Memmi depicting Virgin between St. Paul, St. John the Baptist, St. James, St. Francis, St. Louis, St. Mary Magdalen, and Santa Chiara was described by Vasari, but is no longer present.