Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco

Close to the Town Hall is the church of San Francisco, a spacious temple with a noticable entrance. It is framed with a round arch with elegant voussoirs. To either side it is decorated with the coats-of-arms of Spain and Trujillo worked into the granite. In teh center is the image of Saint Francis, and above it all, an image of the Creator holding the ball of the World in his right hand (not shown). The church was built in 1502 as an addition to the convent of San Francisco, on the remains of an Arab mosque. The floor plan is simple, with a single nave crossed by a single transept. The baroque paneling over the altar shows carved images of the Franciscan saints on the sides and of the Virgin in the middle. The carving is attributed to Gregorio Hernández. It is documented that Pope Alexander VI imposed the condition that churches be austere, and therefore this one had no bell tower, just a modest steeple. (Lancia Publications, page 54)

This temple was used to bury family members by the Pizarros. Hernando Pizarro and his wife Francisca Pizarro Yupangui rest here, though their remains have been hidden from public viewing since restoration work done in the church in the 20th century.(Lancia Publications, page 54)