Monastero di San Quirico (1447-51)

A widow named Giovanna di Ghelferio established a community of female Franciscan tertiaries in a convent dedicated to St Quiricus in 1392 in a house near Via San Francesco, between San Paolo and San Stefano.

By 1402, the community was affiliated with that of the Blessed Angelina at Sant’ Anna, Foligno.  When Pope Martin V approved the federation under the Blessed Angelina in 1428, Sister Tommasa of San Quirico was named as the leader of the community in Assisi. 

The community built a new convent at the current location in 1447-51 on land that they bought from the Benedictine nuns of Sant’ Apollinare (see below).  Roman remains found on the site were for a long time thought to relate to a temple, but they have recently been identified as those of the Roman baths (2nd century AD).  

The original church was within the monastery.  However, after the Apostolic Visitation of 1573, the sisters were required to build another one outside the enclosure, in line with the reforms inspired by the Council of Trent.  The present church, which has its façade in Via Antonio Cristofani, was consecrated in 1600 and renovated in 1899. 

The community at San Quirico worked closely with Bishop Niccolini during the German occupation of 1943-4, and hid many Jews threatened with deportation.  The nuns joined the poor Clares in 1948.  The convent was badly damaged in the earhtquake of 1997;  details of its subsequent restoration can be found in the website of the Associazione Nazionale Alpini.

The shrine above the entrance to the monastery contains a fresco (ca. 1460) of the Madonna and Child with SS Anne, Francis and Quiricus that is attributed to Cristoforo di Jacopo da Foligno.

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