San Francesco alle Scale, Catholic church in Ancona, Italy

San Francesco alle Scale is a church in Ancona whose façade centres on a portal carved in 1454 by Giorgio da Sebenico, framed by twenty sculpted heads and four niches with Franciscan saints. A two-flight stone staircase of about 30 steps leads up to it. The single-nave interior has an 18th-century appearance.

The foundation stone was laid in 1323 and the building initially carried a different name when it was consecrated. During the 20th century, the structure underwent a significant change in purpose that shaped its use for several decades.

The name comes from the monumental staircase that connects the church to the street level below, making it a distinctive landmark in the city. Inside, artwork by notable Renaissance painters reflects the building's role as a center for religious and artistic life in Ancona.

The church stands on Via Pizzecolli at the top of Piazza San Francesco, reached by a semicircular ramp rebuilt in the 1920s by architect Italo Garlatti; the original 1447 staircase by Giorgio Orsini had two flights of 30 steps and was largely demolished in 1802. The interior is a single 18th-century nave, so the visit is short and level once inside.

From 1927 to 1944 the church housed Ancona's Pinacoteca civica Francesco Podesti and the Museo archeologico nazionale delle Marche. For that purpose architect Italo Garlatti rebuilt the semicircular access ramp in more modern forms. The 18th-century bell tower collapsed in 1944 under bombing that also destroyed the adjoining convent.