San Francesco a Ripa, Rome

Originally, this was a Benedictine monastery which served as a hospice to welcome pilgrims who arrived by river. Even San Francesco stayed here and this is why the monastery was later passed on to the Franciscans. The church was rebuilt at the end of the 17th Century but the rooms where San Francesco stayed were preserved. Inside, the present chapels keep great works of art, like the Paluzzi-Albertoni chapel which boasts one of Bernini's greatest masterpieces, the statue Estasi di Beata Ludovica Albertoni, or Baciccia's painting Madonna col Bambino e Sant'Anna in the background. The vestry leads to the San Francesco chapel where a cabinet of relics dated late 17th Century contains a portrait of the saint, his stone cushion and his crucifix.