Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi all'Immacolata (Church of Saint Francis of Assisi to the Immaculate), Noto

The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi to the Immaculate is located at the pinnacle of a picturesque three-flight staircase. This church, renowned for its architectural splendor, was crafted between 1704 and 1750 under the architectural guidance of Rosario Gagliardi and Vincenzo Sinatra.

The façade of the church is a masterpiece of Baroque design. It is structured into two orders of pilasters adorned with Corinthian capitals and is elegantly crowned by a tympanum. At the center of this imposing façade, an exquisite portal adorned with baroque columns, intricately sculpted with foliate motifs, takes center stage.

Inside the church, which features a single nave and a Latin cross layout, visitors can admire a wealth of eighteenth-century paintings and funerary monuments. The apse houses a gilded wooden statue of the Immaculate Virgin dating back to 1504, attributed to the skilled hand of Antonio Monachello.

Two side chapels within the church, devoted to Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Anthony of Padua, are masterpieces crafted by the plasterer Giuseppe Gianforma, a contemporary of Serpotta.