Convento dei Minori Osservanti di S. Francesco

The Convento dei Minori Osservanti di S. Francesco fills an entire block in the old town, its original plan now partly obscured by later houses built within its perimeter. A small shrine with images of saints marks the corner where via S. Francesco meets vicolo S. Michele. The entrance, now in private hands, sits beneath a low cross-vaulted arch and leads into a first courtyard, divided by a wall that separates the secular property from the conventual one. Upstairs, a barrel-vaulted corridor gives onto small rooms with domical ceilings, likely the former monastic cells. Monasteries of this period were often adapted over centuries, their orderly cloisters broken up by new walls and private dwellings. Here, the fabric of the building still hints at the quiet rhythm of Franciscan life, though much of it now belongs to the city’s everyday bustle.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.