Convent of San Francesco (building)

**The Convent of San Francesco** is a place of Catholic worship in the municipality of Vernazza, in via San Francesco, the church is connected to the ancient convent of the Franciscan order, now the seat of the town hall.

## **Description**

Externally the church has a very simple aspect, typical of Franciscan architectural elements, with a gabled facade marked by a stained glass window and a marble portal carved with festoons. The interior is characterized by a single nave and houses, in the thickness of the side walls, four chapels decorated with stucco. The subsoil, just below the floor, served as a sepulchral area and fourteen tombs have been found, probably belonging to brother monks.

The convent characterized by the cloister, is the current seat of the Town Hall, while the remaining complex is used as an exhibition hall or for musical and theatrical performances. The adjacent bell tower, equipped with a clock, with a square base is surmounted by an octagonal spire and a small dome. In the western area of the complex, the Genoese walls that surround the village in a wedge shape are visible.

## **History**

At the express request of the people of Vernazza, the convent belonging to the reformed minor Franciscan friars was built in 1618. In 1810 the friars were expelled by the Napoleonic decree. After the fall of Napoleon, Vernazza became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia and in 1820 the Franciscans asked to be able to return, through a petition sent by the Municipal Council, which thus solicited its approval. The friars returned in 1823, but according to some sources it seems that they were not liked by the notables of the town.

In 1847 the Franciscans asked the City Council to reimburse the damage suffered for the destruction of the irrigation aqueduct of their garden, which was destroyed during the works on the Reggio road, but their request was rejected and in 1861 for the suppression of religious orders, as decided by the Government, the Convent was then ceded to the Municipality. Subsequently, a new use of this system was found by integrating the Town Hall which until then did not exist. Later in the Convent the Elementary Schools and the Infantile Kindergarten were arranged.

## **Bibliography**

* Castelli medioevali della Lunigiana occidentale in “Giornale Storico della Lunigiana”, a cura di Maria Luisa Scarin, Istituto Internazionale Studi Liguri-Bordighera, 1962.
* Cento conventi-contributi alla storia della provincia francescana ligure, a cura di Frate Alfonso Casini, Genova, Convento della Visitazione, 1950.
* Le Cinque Terre e Portovenere, a cura di Cesare Ferrari, Arte della Stampa - La Spezia, 1952.
* Documenti sulla riviera lunigianese nel Basso Medioevo, a cura di Leopoldo Cimaschi, Giornale Storico della Lunigiana, 1956.
* Storia e parlata di Vernazza, a cura di Irene Di Martino, CENTROSTAMPA, Arcola (SP), 2014.
* Vernazza le trasformazioni nel tempo dell’insediamento e del territorio, a cura di Renata Allegri e Osvaldo Garbarino, LIBRERIA GEOGRAFICA, 2018.
* Vernazza nell’Ottocento, a cura di Giuseppe Rollando, Edizione Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre, 2003.
* Vini e vigneti delle Cinque Terre, a cura di Paolo Emilio Faggioni, negli scritti di G. Targioni Tozzetti, G. Guidoni, G. Gallesio, L. Beretta, G. Sforza, STRINGA EDITORE, Genova, 1983.
* Dizionario del dialetto di Vernazza, a cura Francesco Di Martino e Per Giorgio Cavallini, La Tipografia, Levanto, 2021.
* Le poesie di Tofa, a cura di Tofa, Edizione Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre, Tipografia Ambrosiana Litografia, 2006.
* Le Cinque Terre: Genesi degli insediamenti, a cura di Giovanni Rolla, Tesi di Laurea in Storia degli Insediamenti Tardo-Antichi e Medioevali.
* Storie e leggende delle Cinque Terre e di Levanto, a cura di Aldo Viviani e Francesco Musante, Edizioni Giacché, 1998.
* Vernazza Amarcord, a cura di Elena Bertozzi.
* Nel territorio della Luna castelli fra terra e mare, a cura di Pia Spagiari, Luna Editore.
* I castelli della Liguria, a cura di Pia Spagiari, Stringa Editore, Genova, 1973.
* Il parco dell'uomo la storia e la pietra, a cura di Attilio Casavecchia e Enrica Salvatori, Edizione Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre.
* I canti da Maemuna, a cura di Cristoforo Basso, Giuliano Carro e Andrea Leonardini, Edizione Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre.

## **External links**

* Comune di Vernazza website
* Vernazza 5 Terre website
* Parco Nazionale delle 5 Terre website
* Save Vernazza website

## References

this page was lastly reviewd on 15-08-20221. ↑ https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiesa\_di\_San\_Francesco\_(Vernazza)
2. ↑ http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/pun\_dettaglio.php?id\_pun=1811