Complex of San Francesco in Lucca
An organic whole of ancient and modern structures
The complex of San Francesco in Lucca is a structure of 12,000 square meters meant as a campus for the Scuola di Alti Studi IMT as well as to host cultural events.
The complex includes several units: the Church of San Francesco, now deconsecrated, the Guinigi Chapel, the Sacristy, classrooms, residential facilities, housing, offices, a canteen and indoor and outdoor areas for study and socialization.
Of all these, the historical core is the church of San Francesco, built and completed around 1430 by the Franciscan friars, already living in the city in 1228.
Its facade, which remained unfinished and was completed only in 1930, is characterized by the rose window and the four coats of arms that represent the symbol of the Franciscan Order, a fascio littorio (lictorian fasces), the coat of arms of the city of Lucca and a rampant lion.
Inside a single environment with frescoed walls along which there are marble altars that are adorned with painted altarpieces. At the end of the nave, in one of the two chapels that stand there, are the remains of a pictorial cycle attributed to Baldassarre di Biagio of Florence.
The church is also the burial place of many prominent figures of the history of Lucca, Giovanni Guidiccioni, Ugolino Visconti, Francesco Geminiani and Luigi Boccherini.
Behind the high altar is the pipe organ, built between 1930 and 1940 and restored in 2013.
Landmark and flagship of the territory, the complex built around the church has a great value that combines the past of the city, thanks to the artistic-historical heritage, to its future, thanks to the training activities of the Scuola di Alti Studi IMT.
