The church of San Francesco stands on piazza Risorgimento, in the centre of Gallarate. The Franciscans are documented in the town from 1234: on 6 October of that year Pope Gregory IX, with the bull «Attendentes», authorised the new convent and asked the archbishop of Milan to support it, and in 1245 Pope Innocent IV urged the work on. The convent was suppressed on 18 July 1798 and soon afterwards the old church was also destroyed.
What to see
Today's church was built between 1906 and 1910 to a design by the architect Gaetano Moretti. The church's board was then made up of the town's historic and industrial families, among them the Majno, Cantoni, Ponti, Bonicalzi, Forni and Sartorio, recalled on a marble plaque to the left of the central entrance. In 1919 the interior frescoes were completed and the new façade was inaugurated.
The church has a special place in the memory of the people of Gallarate because two cardinals were linked to it: Giovanni Colombo, archbishop of Milan, and Efrem Forni, who at his own wish is buried here, in the monumental sarcophagus to the left of the high altar. Since 1965 a convent of enclosed Benedictine nuns has stood beside the church, and the nuns look after it.
Visiting
The church is on piazza Risorgimento. Opening hours should be checked on site.
Our editors' tip
The rooms of the old Franciscan convent, known as the Chiostrino, now house the museum of the Società gallaratese per gli studi patri, with archaeological finds and a picture gallery.
