The construction of the Church of San Francesco d’Assisi, with an adjoining Convent, began in 1503 when a certain La Priola, made a will in favor of the “Veneranda Chiesa di San Francesco”, leaving to the Friars Minor Conventual, executors, a vast territory, the modern Ciminna, in order to divide it up and with the income to begin its construction. In 1860, with the suppression of the Convents, it was transformed into a male and female prison; today it houses the Ciminna Municipal Library, which with its 24,000 volumes, with the ancient “Biblioteca Cappuciniorum” and with the volumes of the section on the history of the Sicilian Risorgimento, donated by Prof. Francesco Brancato, an illustrious historian from Ciminna, is one of the most important Sicilian libraries.
Inside the Church there are many works of art, including: a painting of “Santo Onofrio” by the painter Filippo Randazzo; a marble triptych from 1538 by Antonello Gagini; a beautiful statue of Maria Immacolata by the sculptor Antonino Barcellona from 1781; three frescoes depicting the “Dogma of Maria Immacolata” and the “Reparation for the sin of Adam and Eve” by the painter Pasquale Sarullo from Ciminna and the “Martyrdom of Saints Crispin and Crispinian” by the painter Francesco Gigante from 1663; a painting of “Sant’Antonio da Padova” by the painter Melchiorre Di Bella from 1773; a “Madonna con bambino” from the Gagini school; a painting depicting the “Martirio di Santa Apollonia by the painter Vincenzo La Barbera from 1600; a painting of “Santo Alfonso” by the painter Pasquale Sarullo; the “SS. Crocfisso” in mixed marble, a work by Antonino Gagini from 1521; two paintings of the “Maddalena” e “San Giovanni Evangelista” by the painter Pasquale Sarullo; a marble altar by the sculptor Pietro Allegra; in the High Altar the painting of Maria Immacolata is by the painter Vito D’Anna from 1777; a papier-mâché Crucifix by Sebastiano Cannizzaro, also the author of the statues of the Mysteries.
