St. Francis Square, 14th century
The church, thought to have probably belonged at first to the Benedictine Order, came to house the Franciscan friars in the early 300s. The church is built in trachyte and expresses the features of the Sardinian gothic with Catalan – Aragonese influences; the entrance consists in a gate resting on small columns with floral capitals. Symmetrically to the entrance, we find the central rose window and the two secondary oculi. The church was closed and deconsecrated between the late 800s and the early 900s, a period in which it was used as barracks, school for mining foremen, and gym. In 1914, it ran the risk of demolition, but the chief magistrate (podestà) Piga and other superintendents fought for its survival. In 1918, an oven was built, initially for the soldiers and later to produce bread for the people.