The Marche region is full of traces  of S. Francesco d' Assisi, both for its geographic proximity to Umbria and for elective affinity and because, from the start, it was the Region which welcomed him.

The first historically documented journey of S. Francesco in the Marche region dates back to 1208 and concerns, in particular, the so-called March of Ancona; it was followed by many other journeys until 1219, as a proof of the deep bond between the Saint and our region. In 1282 the province of the March had 85 Franciscan monasteries with 1,500 monks; every monastery was equipped with a library and the confraternity ran hospitals and charitable institutions. Moreover, the presence of the friars involved the commission of numerous works of art: crucifixes, paintings on canvas, altarpieces, sculptures. The Franciscanism embraced, in our region, the many forms of social life of the past centuries, significantly marking the cultural and religious history of the region.