Construction of the Chiesa dei Cappuccini or Church of the Capuchin Monks began in the 12th century and was only completed by the early 14th century. The façade with a local stone base, and brick superior zone has a portal with multiple columns and a fresco in the lunette from the 17th century. In 1623 the Cappuccini (a Franciscan order) were assigned to this church. They erected an adjacent convent, and remained here until suppressed by the Napoleonic government in 1802.
The Capuchin order returned and reconsecrated the church in 1903. During restorations in the 1971, a large fresco was found in the apse, depicting the Annunciation. The work is attributed to two friars, Franceschino and Manfredino Baxilio, and dated to 1484. Of the fresco, only the Virgin remains. The apse maintains the baroque wooden altar with a painting of the Madonna della Neve, St Francis and St Lawrence of Brindisi. In the left nave is a canvas by Guglielmo Caccia, detto il Moncalvo, and in the right nave is a Madonna with St Felice da Cantalice, attributed to a son of Moncalvo.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.