La Basilica of San Francesco alla Rocca was built starting in 1237, on land that Pope Gregory IX had donated to the Franciscans, and the preexisting Palace called degli Alemanni, dating back to 1208, was incorporated into the convent complex adjacent to the church.
The building was restored during the 16th century and again in the 17th century. These renovations added Baroque elements that covered the original Romanesque features. A plaque embedded in the facade informs that the church, half-destroyed by Allied bombings on January 17, 1944, was rebuilt by the Lazio Monument Authority and reopened to the public in April 1953: the reconstruction efforts led to the complete removal of the Baroque elements and the restoration of the ancient Romanesque structure.
Of particular historical interest is the attached convent, now home to the military district of Viterbo, which has hosted, throughout its history, various saints, popes, and emperors; until the expropriation of 1873 it was the seat of the Franciscan theological university.
The Basilica of San Francesco alla Rocca has been governed for many decades by the Conventual Friars Minor (O.F.M.Conv.). The facade features a Romanesque portal with twisted columns; above the portal are the insignia of Pope Pius XII, who granted the church the title of “minor basilica” (1949); above that are three single-light windows and an oculus.
The original Romanesque facade also had a portico and was decorated with several frescoes. At the right corner there is a hexagonal pulpit, erected in 1428 in memory of the preaching in Viterbo of Saint Bernardino of Siena. The church is flanked by a bell tower with a bell dated to 1259.
