Pisa - San Francesco

There is evidence of the foundation of a small Franciscan church on this site, to the north of the Palazzo Médici, in the year 1211: that is during the lifetime of St Francis. The present aisleless church, however, dates from 1265 to 1270 and was probably the work of Giovanni di Simone; the facade was completed in 1603. Numerous grave-slabs, some of them bearing coats of arms, are let into the floor.

The second chapel on the right contains the remains, deposited here in 1922, of Count Ugolino della Gherardesca and his sons, who were starved to death in the Palazzo dell'Orológico. The church also contains a number of pictures, including some depicting scenes from the legend of St Francis, and a marble polyptych by Tommaso Pisano (14th century) the "Virgin and Child with Saints".