This was the parish church I attended when living in Brindisi. Fourteenth century Romanesque…read morearchitecture enhancing the original church built in 1284 to commemorate St Francis of Assisi who prayed on this very spot before debarking for Egypt to try to peacefully end the Crusades. The church manifests elements of Arabic-Sicilian geometric designs influenced by those pilgrims who visited the Holy Land from the nearby port and returned with the idea to incorporate what they saw architecturally on their travels to new church construction in Brindisi. Loved the original frescoes by Rinaldo di Taranto depicting Christ as the Tree of Life, and a semi restored wall displaying Rinaldo's version of the Last Supper. Would spend an hour after Mass just to walk and gaze at the sublime beauty of this historic landmark (thus designated and protected since 1875). A must see if you're in the area and most of the time it's pretty peaceful and conducive for prayer. Mahalo for reading my review.