San Francesco, Prato, 13th-century Romanesque church in Prato, Italy

San Francesco is a 13th-century church in Prato featuring exterior walls of alternating white and green striped stone that create a distinctive visual pattern. A bell tower designed by Antonio Benini rises beside it, completed in the early 1800s.

Construction began in 1281 next to an existing monastery and it was among the first structures in Prato to use brick rather than stone. This material choice was innovative at the time and influenced how the city would build in future decades.

The church keeps the 15th-century panel with Christ's monogram brought to Prato by Bernardino of Siena, who preached here in 1424; such panels were traditionally placed in churches he visited. The merchant Francesco Datini chose burial at the foot of the main altar steps, and his white marble slab by Niccolò di Pietro Lamberti (1411–12) shows him lying in state and standing within a Gothic tabernacle.

The church is located on Piazza San Francesco in Prato's historic center and is easy to reach on foot from nearby streets. Visit early in the morning or late afternoon when the square is less crowded and you can see the details more clearly.

The pediment's stucco relief of St Francis receiving the stigmata, about 1422, is attributed to Donatello; the Latin inscription reads DEUS SUPER OMNIA. The facade stands roughly a pediment's height taller than the building behind it, and the oculus once held a white marble rose window, removed in the 17th century.