Grasping the hills along the lower course of the Bormida River, Cassine is a town that has maintained traces of its medieval past. The Chiesa (Church) di San Francesco, built in the Gothic-Lombard style by Franciscan monks at the end of the 1200’s, has been almost entirely brought back to its original state thanks to the restoration work carried out between 1924 and 1927. The façade is in terracotta, decorated with hanging arches and with the first bell tower built at the same time as the church. In 1644, a second bell tower was added. The church’s interior is organized into three naves to which a fourth was added made up of various chapels built during later periods. The pictorial elements are also very interesting. After construction, the upper parts of the church were decorated with polychromatic imitation friezes and fake marble, which, in 1300, were substituted with figurative decorations, few traces of which remain today. The situation in the convent is better, where, in the former capitulary hall, one can admire a Crocifissione (Crucifixion), the story of the Magi, and the lives of several Santi (Saints).
