Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata

The friary of the Santissima Annunziata, also known as Sant'Antonio, was founded according to tradition by St Bernardine of Siena in 1440 and draws tourists and devotees of St Anthony of Padua. In 1991 John Paul II raised the friary church to the rank of minor basilica.Above the portal of the old church a lunette frescoed in 1721 depicts the Annunciation, a theme echoed in the apse by a 15th-century Tuscan-style panel. We really like the oratory dedicated to St Roch, with its painted wooden ceiling made after the plague of 1656, and the fresco of the Madonna and Child rediscovered under the plaster in 1930. We also recommend a stroll in the cloister.