Timidly hidden, almost in silence was built in the early 18th century, 1702 the Church of St. Francis to house the Confraternity of the Sacred Stigmata or St. Francis -still extant- born under the influence of the Friars Minor Observant of the nearby convent. Arranged along three walls in the rectangular hall are the wooden choir stalls made by local craftsmen in the 18th century, complete with depictions of saints, blessed and protectors of the Seraphic order. On the cone of the only altar, all carved stone, is a valuable wooden statue of St. Francis of the Neapolitan school. Also kept in a niche is a stone statue depicting St. Anthony that recalls sculptures by Stefano da Putignano or other skilled stone carvers active in the 16th century. Paintings include a 16th-17th-century Madonna and Child with Angels and, in the small sacristy, a 16th-century painting of the Assumption of the Virgin surely from another church.
