In the mid-16th century, the Friars Minor Observant moved the residence from the church in Loreto and built a new building on the outskirts of town. The construction of the new convent lasted almost two centuries, while the church was consecrated in 1575. Important works were carried out between 1691-1696, when the Convent was used as a Regional College for the training of Missionaries destined for foreign countries. The restoration and expansion of the Convent was also matched by those of the Church. Under the Rattazzi Act, the convent was suppressed in 1867 and used as a barracks and then a school. In 1936 the church was returned to worship. The layout of the church is a single nave with chapels on both sides. The interior houses the extraordinary wooden altar, painted in green and pure gold-one of the largest and most beautiful on the island. The altar was begun after 1691, thanks to the contribution of the noble Arca family, whose coat of arms (with the double-headed eagle) can be seen on the top. Of modern taste are the various frescoes by Polish-born painter Eugene Bardsky (1979). The convent has a porticoed cloister with pillars on three sides. Cross-vaulted porticoes connected the ground floor parts of the monastery: kitchen, refectory and cellarium. Instead, the upper floor housed the chapter house and dormitory. Among the few works of art remaining in the monastery, the fresco on the vault of the current lecture hall, depicting St. Bonaventure with allegories of the arts and sciences, dates back to the late 1700s. Renovation work was carried out in 1982 on the convent complex that now houses the St. Francis Cultural Center with the municipal library.
