Chiesa di San Francesco
Modena, IT
The church of San Francesco is an Emilian Gothic church, built from 1244. On 5 June 1501, a very violent earthquake seriously damaged the church and the bell tower, which were rebuilt from 1535. The bell tower was completely rebuilt in its present style. In the 18th century, further work was carried out on the monastic complex, but in 1774 the Duke of Modena decided to reduce the number of parishes so that the monks had to leave the monastery, while the church was entrusted to the management of the parish of San Giorgio, which was then abolished in 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte. The church reopened for the first time in 1829, after a restoration begun in 1926, and again in 1901, after restorations in the 1880s in the neo-Gothic style.