The St. Francis church was built on the spot of a pre-existing structure from the Gothic period. The project for the new work was commissioned to Brother Antonio Cano from Sassari (student of Canova) who had already looked after building important works including the mausoleum for Carlo Emanuele of Savoy in the cathedral in Cagliari, two chapels in the cathedral and the St. Vincent church in Oristano, the cathedral in Nuoro and the parish church in Sorso.
The old church was almost completely demolished in 1835 and works for the new one were begun a year later. A few years after the first stone was laid, in the most critical phase of its execution, the structure collapsed.
Brother Antonio Cano - who was held responsible for the tragic event - was fired. The works were then entrusted to the hands of another highly regarded designer: Gaetano Cima who left one of the most rigorous realizations of Sardinian purist classicism.
The church is home to high-quality works of art, including the Christ by Nicodemus – a wooden and stucco sculpture that expresses the suffering of Christ on the Cross in an extremely realistic fashion.