Visite guidate nell’ex chiesa di San Francesco di Alessandria

BOOKINGS
send an email to sabap-al.eventi@cultura.gov.it by 4 p.m. on 24/10/2025. Bookings will be
accepted until full capacity is reached, and confirmed by sending an e-mail of acceptance.

The former Church of San Francesco will be open to the public in the morning of Saturday 25 October, with free admission in 3 separate shifts at 10:15 a.m. 11:30 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. subject to prior booking and until the maximum number for each group is reached, which is small for safety reasons.


The free tours will be led by the architect Francesca Lupo and archaeologist Gian Battista
Garbarino, officials of the Superintendency together with the Designer and Director of Works architect Claudio Montagni, with the participation of the representatives of the Company Damiani Costruzioni e Aurea sas.

Following the day dedicated to the 20th century, which featured Palazzo delle Poste (Post Office building) and Casa del Mutilato (House of the Mutilated), the officials of the Superintendency of Archaeology Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Alessandria Asti and Cuneo will accompany the public through the Middle Ages and 19th century, inside the construction site of the former 14th-century Church of San Francesco, transformed during the Napoleonic era into a barracks and then
into
a military hospital. The Promotion Day scheduled for 25 October is therefore another opportunity to reveal the secrets of the ongoing construction site and the first results achieved by the work carried out by the Municipality of
Alessandria for the creation of the new site of the Civic Museum, with the participation of the Ministry of
Culture in the restoration work on decorated surfaces. With the final touches currently being completed, and with the first phase of the work nearing completion, followed by the fitting-out phase, the site will be
open to visitors in its almost definitive form as the shell of the museum space: the scheduled visits, guided by the officials of the Superintendency and the key figures involved in the construction site, will be the opportunity to
interpret the 14th-century architecture of the ancient church, as it was purposely highlighted in its
original materials and decorations, distinguishing it from the subsequent 19th century transformations, equally clearly recognizable for the different surface treatment. In addition to the "visible" history,
the visit to the construction site will also allow to interpret the one that was initially "not visible", emerged thanks to the archaeological excavation work conducted in defined areas of the church surface. The purpose is to deepen the knowledge of the original architecture and of the changes made to the building, since its foundation, to the use of interior spaces for burials, to subsequent changes to the floor plan and elevation.

via XXIV Maggio 5, Complesso Conventuale di San Francesco - 15121 Alessandria

Telephone: +39 (0131) 229.100
E-mail: sabap-al.eventi@cultura.gov.it