San Francesco's Church

san francesco church

Situated on a low rise at the foot of the Pass of the Foce, the church was begun in 1610 and accomplished by the Duke Charles I Cybo Malaspina between 1623 and 1662 as the inscriptions at the sides indicate (17th and 18th centuries).

The church can be reached by a long flight of steps leading to a an arcade with four marble Dorian-Tuscan columns; on the upper section of the façade there are the statues of San Francesco and San Bernardino. There are two marble portals, one is the entrance to the church and the other is the entrance to what used to be a convent.

The Baroque style aisleless interior contains a high altar built in white and red French marble with the statues of San Francesco and San Bernardino rising above it. There are three minor altars on each side: the most important of them is dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua, one to the Sacred Heart and the third holds an oil painting of Jesus with Disciples; on the opposite side, the altar of Saint Francis with an oil painting of the saint, the second has a statue of the Madonna and the third contains a crucifix. The altar of Saint Anthony, gift of the Counts Lazzoni, consists of a polished statuary marble high relief of Holy Mary with the saint amongst angels, the Baroque gable held by spiral pillars of red marble of France, two angel head candleholders, a bracket inlaid with rare types of marble and adorned with the coats of arms of the Counts Lazzoni. The tombstone of Carrara households with coats of arms on the floor are in more or less fair condition.