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The Convent: history

The structure of the Convent goes back to the end of the fifteenth century. Over four centuries it hosted a community of Franciscan Minor Friars devoted to strict Observance. The last friar died in 1960 and in 1962 the Convent was sold to a private buyer. In 1994, after years of neglect, the Convent was acquired by Sa.Ro. S.r.l., a private limited company which set about the task of faithful restoration, started in 1997 and completed in the autumn of 2001. The choice of location and the energy poured into the process of its careful restoration, are indicative of the underlying will to create a place enabling the pursuit of cultural and cognitive activities, with full respect for oneself, others and the surrounding environs. It is in the spirit of this concrete utopia that the Convent is hosting cultural and scientific activities (music, ethology, ecology), courses, seminars, conferences and concerts.

This is taken from the historical report of Architect Alberto Civai annexed to the application for restoration of Radicondoli's Saint Francis Convent of strict Observance, as submitted in 1997 to the Siena Soprintendenza
(the latter oversees any development on historical buildings)

According to Repetti the original structure of the Convent goes back to 1447, but this is not confirmed in the documentation now held at the St. Francis Convent in Florence. In "Chronicles of the Friars Minor (or Lesser Friars) of the Ognissanti Province " we find that the convent was founded in 1424 by Friar Thomas of Florence, later to be abandoned due to the Radicondoli people's failure to contribute to the sustenance of the friars. In 1493 another Friar, Piero of Siena, is granted permission to sell the existing Convent and use the funds to build a larger structure. This report is confirmed in a more detailed account made by Friar Bulletti (on a different date) - …Indeed in 1494 Pietro Vitelli of Siena, another Friar, who was anxious to see the return of the Observant Friars to Radicondoli, petitioned the Commune Councils (Minore and Maggiore) in order to obtain a better suited plot of land closer to the inhabited centre on which to build the Convent. As could be predicted, the Council's response was favourable. On the first of January of the following year it went on to appoint four Massari ( a kind of executive committee ) and expressly charged them to negotiate with three Massari of the Opera di San Simone terms for the transfer of Il Contarino a parcel of land within the Alle Manente district belonging to the Opera di San Simone. The Commune also charged the four Massari to oversee the setting up of a limekiln exclusively for the use of the friars as well as other and charged also with other financial and administrative duties until the construction of the Convent had been completed. &endash;

In 1589 Monsignor Guido Servi consecrated the church, although other sources suggest by Servidio Servidi Bishop of Volterrra.

Don Angelo Santarelli, a former parish priest of Radicondoli, relates that following the suppression by the Napoleonic regime in 1810 and by the Italian State in 1865, Noferi Santi lay claim to ownership of the Convent until it was put up for sale in 1880. Various families owned it until the Bulgarini family acquired it.

The present structure results from the merger of two previously separate parts : the church and the convent proper. The approach is via a short cypress-lined avenue fronting the small portico of the church. This sizeable structure has a rectangular ground plan, it is stone-built like the handsome belfry embellishing the extreme left side of the building. The portico takes up the front elevation of the church and is the only external feature of the building which does not have a purely structural function, at its centre we find a little rose-window. As is the case for such a structure, the portico front consists of a series of three rounded cotto arches resting on brick pillars, this composition is mirrored by three stone pilasters on the rear wall. At its centre we find a marble-rimmed door leading to the church. Inside, the single-nave church, is flanked by four gesso-built altars, two on each of the longer sides, probably added during the restoration that most likely took place during the 1700s, as appears to be suggested by the style of the ornamental features (there is unfortunately no documentation relating of this restoration).

The presbytery has a square ground plan, it is defined by four pillars on which stand four rounded arches, above which stands a flat dome adorned by a series of concentric decorative motives painted with shapes of small clouds and little angels. These themes are certainly more in keeping with the eighteenth century pictorial tradition rather than with the more sober style prevalent when the original outside structure was built in late fifteenth century. Beyond the presbytery is the quire, covered with a barrel vault and until recently furnished with characteristic wooden stools. The church has natural light through large windows placed high up on the longer sides. Two large wooden trusses hold the pitched roof structure.

From the outside the Convent looks like a very simple rectangular ground plan structure articulated around an internal cloister. This is the most important part of the building, indeed the cloister has benefited from the greatest amount of care at the time of the construction, as evidenced by its excellently balanced proportions between all of its various component. Chiefs among these are the very beautiful polycentric brick arches to be found on the first floor. There are also other typical features of the monastic building tradition, such as the long internal corridors adjacent to the internal cloister. They too have been the object of great building care, they are covered by barrel vaults and crossed vaults at the corners. At intervals of about two metres there are load-bearing arches which form a sustaining ribcage for the vault.

Bibliography and Acknowledgements :

F.Enrico Bulletti (1962) Appunti di Storia di Radicondoli (Notes on a History of Radicondoli). Published by the Comitato per le Onoranze, Radicondoli.
Siena Soprintendenza for the historical-artistic documentation kindly provided.
Archivio di Stato for the documentation in storage at Siena's Archivio di Stato.

For more details please consult
Anna Maria Amonaci (1997) : Conventi toscani dell'Osservanza francescana (Tuscan convents of Franciscan Observance) published by Silvana editoriale under the auspices of Regione Toscana.

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