Siena - San Francesco

To the northeast of Piazza Salimbeni stands the Gothic Church of San Francesco, a Franciscan foundation begun in 1326 but not completed until 1475. Like San Doménico, San Francesco shows the architectural style of the Mendicant Orders, with an aisleless nave and no apse at the east end. The campanile was added in 1765. The interior, with its open timber roof, is painted in alternate bands of black and white, imitating the marble facing of the cathedral.