It is located near a major and ancient street of the city, via Cassaro, in the quarter of the Kalsa, within the historic centre of Palermo.

The pope also took advantage of the absence of the archbishop of Palermo, Berard of Castagna, who had traveled to Germany with the Emperor Frederick II.

Therefore, in 1235 the friars built a new convent by converting an old Byzantine fortification dating back to the military campaign of George Maniakes.

In 1255 the Vicar general of Sicily Ruffino Gorgone da Piacenza, chaplain of Pope Alexander IV, entrusted the reconstruction to the bishop of Malta, Roger.

The church of Saint Francis of Assisi has an important role in the religious life of Palermo: in fact, in this church is enshrined the Simulacrum of the Immaculate Conception that every year, on the evening of December 8, pass through the streets of the historic center among thousands of believers who accompany the procession till the Piazza San Domenico.