A church at the site of current San Francesco, dedicated to St John, was present since perhaps the seventh-century, since nearby Christian burial appear to date from then. In around 1244, the church began to be administered by priests from the Cathedral of Acqui. Around 1410, it became associated with the Franciscan order, and rebuilt and rededicated. The convent was suppressed in 1802, and the church was affiliated with the Confraternity of San Giuseppe, who briefly changed the name of the church. In 1824, the Franciscans returned, and they rebuilt the church in a neoclassic-style, adding the Facade, under the design of Ferraris in 1835, completed in 1854.
Parts of the church are ancient. The bell-tower and apse date to the 15th century. But other parts reflect refurbishments along the centuries, including the 19th-century reconstruction. The broad brick facade (1835–1854) shows eclectic styles with a triangular lower tympanum and monumental order pilasters.
The interior houses an Immaculate Conception by il Moncalvo; an Adoration of the Magi by Raffael Angelo Soleri; and a Madonna and Child with Saint Francis and Antony of Padua by Pietro Beccaria. The ceilings were frescoed by the 19th-century painter Pietro Ivaldi, detto il Muto di Toleto.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.