Gerace - San Francesco d'Assisi

The history of Gerace is closely linked to that of Locri at the coast, as the inhabitants abandoned Locri and fled from a Saracen attack and piratical dangers. They settled inland, where is Gerace now. The Locrian diocese was moved to Gerace and the innumerable presence of churches and monasteries helped to identify the fortress as a kind of Holy Mount. Because of its particular position, however, Gerace soon became a center of exceptional importance. The possibility of controlling coastal traffic, and the natural fortification, meant that it became the object of attention of the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Sicily. In 986 the Saracens briefly conquered the city, but it returned to Byzantine control until the Norman conquest in 1059. Gerace was the seat of a principality under the Normans.
The church was built in 1252 on the ruins of a pre-existing Romanesque building. It has a single nave and was part of an ancient monastery founded in the early 13th century, of which only the fountain and part of the cloister remain. Similar to the cathedral of Gerace, this building had periods of splendor over the centuries, alternating with dark times, decay and destruction. With the arrival of the French in 1806 the monks of the adjacent monastery, fearing the confiscation of their property, took away all the works and assets therein, impoverishing and dispersing the artistic heritage of the church. Between 1806 and 1897, the church was used as a prison and suffered enormous damage. With the closure of the prison, the building remained empty and deprived of its function as a place of worship, housed an oil mill and apartments.

In 1951 began on the recovery and restoration of the building, which lasted over twenty years. The main facade, on which opens an imposing Gothic portal with a pointed arch, with a triple archivolt is decorated with Arab-Norman motifs.