Lucca - San Franceso

At the east end of the old town of Lucca, not far from San Pietro Somaldi, is the Piazza San Francesco, from which the picturesque Via del Fosso (with a canal which marked the boundary of the medieval town) runs north and south. The square is dominated by the Church of San Francesco, begun in 1228 (only two years after St Francis's death), rebuilt in the 14th century and again restored in the 17th century. The façade, much restored, has three tiers of arcading, a Gothic doorway and a rose-window. Flanking the doorway are two medieval tombs. The church (aisleless) has choir-stalls with intarsia decoration, frescoes of the 15th century Florentine school, tombs (including the Cenotaph of the condottiere Castruccio Castracani) and a memorial to the composer Luigi Boccherini. Adjoining the church is a small cloister.