It was erected around the middle of the thirteenth century, and soon it became important to population, to the point that the City Council of 1663 decided to intercede with the Vatican, which had excommunicated the Franciscan Fathers from Matelica. Today, only the Romanesque doorway remains of the original building. The radical change took place between 1653 and 1719. The monastery is composed by two cloisters.
The church was rebuilt in the '700, and enriched by the moderate Baroque style structure. The expanded structure is made up of the central nave which opens in the side chapels.
Among the most important artworks preserved in the Church are:
The Monastery and Church of St. Francesco
It was erected around the middle of the thirteenth century, and soon it became important to population, to such and extent as to the City Council of 1663 decided to intercede with the Vatican, which had excommunicated the Franciscan Fathers from Matelica. Today, only the Romanesque doorway remains of the original building. The radical change takes place between 1653 and 1719. The monastery is composed by
two cloisters.
The church was rebuilt in the '700, and enriched by the moderate Baroque style structure. The expanded structure is made up of the central nave which opens in the side chapels.
Among the most important artworks preserved in the Church are:
- "Il Purgatorio" (the Purgatory) by Ercole Ramazzani (1586-1st chapel); among the souls of purgatory in the centre of the painting, it is assumed Antonio Maria Ottoni is depicted. The central part of the painting has a swirling and highly emotional dynamism, as opposed to the immobility of the Saints figures attending the event.
- By the same author, "L'Ascensione" (the Ascension) (1574, 5th chapel - right wall). In the central part the Virgin Mary is depicted. The painting is always tripartite vertically and the image of Christ is massive in its fullness. The outline of the picture is crosswise and the author let slip perspective inaccuracies and the gestures of some characters are overly emphatic and theatrical.
- “Madonna in Trono con Santi” (Enthroned Virgin Mary with Saints) by Eusebio da San Giorgio (1512 5th chapel - left wall). The direct ancestry of Raphael is the perfect St. Giovannino crouched at the foot of the Virgin Mary in the act of pointing jokingly some verses with an open book in front of St. Antonio da Padova. The three books in the painting, around which focus the characters, represent the three miracles of St. Antonio.
- “Vergine con Bambino e Santi” (Virgin and Child with Saints) by Francesco di Gentile (second half of the 400 - 4th chapel). Triptych of Umbrian imprint.
- “Madonna con bambino in trono” (Enthroned Madonna and Child) by Marco Palmezzano (1501- 2nd chapel). The table is constituted by two main and 11 secondary compositions distributed in the side pillars and in the altar-step.
- “Adorazione dei Magi” (Adoration of the Magi) by Simone Gianfrancesco (1566-6th chapel) da Caldarola. The painting is crowded with characters that give the opportunity to the painter to depict, with meticulous precision, various human types, social attitudes and sixteenth-century costumes. The choice of colour flattens the whole movement, the chorus of angels is very graceful.
- “Martirio di Santo Stefano” (Martyrdom of St. Stefano) by Simone and Gianfrancesco da Caldarola (1569- 6th chapel).
- "Cappella della Passione" (Chapel of the Passion, cloister) by Giovanni Petronio from Pesaro. The Papal Commissioner, had the chapel painted. Its painting cycle consists of 15 frames recalling the passion of Christ. The back wall is occupied by a Crucifixion.
- San Francesco e il povero (“St. Francesco and the poor man”, 14th century, choir). This is a fresco, whose author was, in all likelihood, belonging to the circle of Giotto Paliotto. The decorated arch in the presbytery is part of the original construction of the Church and pieces of a large fresco are attributed to Allegretto Nuzi (1350 c.). From the cloister of the monastery you enter the Chapel of the Passion, restored in the twentieth century, with frescoes (1569) by De Magistris Family.

Due to the earthquake occurred in 2016, the church is temporarily closed.