Franciscan Church and Monastery

In the Via dei Francescani alley, the Franciscan Church with its monastery can be found, a relatively simple building from the first half of the 14th century. Inside, the Gothic church rises up to the sky, without any obstructions from high altars or rood screen, which were removed as early as 1790, a rarity for this time. The Franciscan order settled in Bolzano as early as 1221, and the first evidence of a church was found in 1237: It was destroyed by a fire shortly afterwards.

A real treasure is the Klocker Altar, a beautiful Christmas altar in the high choir. It was made by Hans Klocker, a master of the Bressanone School, and was completed around 1500. The walls are decorated with few frescoes from around 1500, but in the cloister, as in the cloister of the Dominican Church, there are valuable Gothic frescoes from the School of Giotto (1330 - 1340). The Erhard Chapel with its early Gothic murals is also worth seeing: According to popular belief, it was visited by the young Francis of Assisi and his father.