San Francesco al Prato church, Former Gothic church in Perugia, Italy
San Francesco al Prato in Perugia is a 13th-century Gothic church with a single nave, transept and polygonal apse. Its facade, rebuilt in 1926 by Pietro Angelini, has a central gable with a rose window and a round-arched portal, framed by two Romanesque-style buttresses. The adjacent convent now houses the Academy of Fine Arts.
The church was founded in 1251 by Franciscan minors and faced repeated structural challenges due to its soft foundation. A major rebuild was carried out in the 18th century by Pietro Carattoli.
The name comes from the campo d'orto, the cultivated field of the Porta Santa Susanna district. Blessed Giles, the third companion of Saint Francis, was buried here, which led Perugia's leading families to choose the church as their burial place. The Studium Generale of the Franciscan Order, active from the 14th century, trained the Franciscan popes Sixtus IV and Julius II.
The building is today open to visitors since it houses the Academy of Fine Arts, though its original interior layout has been altered for this new use. It is worth viewing the facade from outside, and asking about current access if you wish to see inside.
The building struggled with severe stability problems that required demolishing the dome, the nave vaults, and parts of the apse walls. These drastic measures reveal how difficult it was to maintain a large structure on soft ground.
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