The Church of San Francesco is located outside the city walls of Anguillara Sabazia. There used to be a monastery attached to it, but it was demolished in the 1950s. A school should have actually been built in its place, but that never happened.
Church of San Francesco Anguillara Sabazia
Useful information
Address: Via di San Francesco, 9 – Anguillara Sabazia. Phone: +39 366 5727533. Opening times: . Ticket price: Free.
History and description
The San Francesco Church is thought to have been founded in the 13th century. The church was probably only completed in 1468, however. This is the year Pope Paul II gave the Franciscans permission to settle in Anguillara.
Consecration took place in 1488.
The church was partially destroyed during the Sack of Rome in 1527.
During World War II, the church was used as a storage place for grain.
The San Francesco Church consists of a single nave. The presbytery has a square floor plan and a cross vault, typical of Franciscan churches built from the 13th century onwards.
What to see
The walls are decorated with frescoes, the ones in the presbytery being painted by Domenico Velandi and depicting the “Madonna and Saints”. Velandi, who was from nearby Viterbo, painted the frescoes in the 15th century.
Paintings on the upper part of the interior were removed when windows were opened in the walls.