It is the first Franciscan church in Sicily: San Francesco all'Immacolata was built in Messina in 1254, just twenty-eight years after the saint's death, at the wish of Messina nobles and of the friars themselves. The first stone was blessed by Pope Alexander IV, and tradition holds that Saint Anthony of Padua stayed here. The second largest church in Messina, it owes part of its fame to a detail: its mighty crenellated apses appear in the background of Antonello da Messina's Christ Supported by Three Angels, now in the Museo Correr in Venice.
What to see
The soaring, imposing architecture echoes Nordic and Gothic forms, rare in the south: its strongest feature is the splayed, crenellated apse arches — the very buttresses that stood firm in 1908 when the earthquake brought down much of the building. As a Royal Chapel, the church held the tombs of the sovereigns: Frederick IV of Sicily, who died in 1377, and his mother Elisabeth of Carinthia were buried here. Much of its former richness — the carved choir of 1512, works from the Gagini and Catalano workshops — was lost or scattered to museums after the fire of 1884 and the earthquakes, yet the sheer mass of the building still speaks of its rank as Magna Domus Messanensis, the title Charles V gave it in 1535.
Visiting
What you see is a faithful reconstruction: after the 1884 fire, which left only the walls standing, and the 1908 quake, the church was raised again between 1926 and 1928, reproducing the old plan and style and reusing the surviving stones. It was reconsecrated on 25 November 1928. In the small square in front, since 1965, stands the bronze statue of Saint Francis by the Messina sculptor Antonio Bonfiglio.
Our editors' tip
Before going in, turn to look at the apses from outside: they are the true surviving masterpiece, the ones Antonello da Messina painted five centuries ago. And keep that Correr painting in mind — standing before the church, you realise how faithful the painter was to his own city.