St Francis Church is the former monastery Church of the Franciscan order, is in the historic centre of Santiago de Chile. The Church is located on the South side of the Alameda del Libertador Bernardo O'higgins, the main street of the city, between the metro station Universidad de Chile and Saint Lucia.

In 1541 by the Conquistador Pedro de Valdivia founded Santiago del Nuevo Extremo in the bends of the river Mapocho. And in 1544 the Franciscans made a request to build a temple at this place. Having received the long-awaited resolution, the Franciscans began the construction of the temple using the local workforce. The first Church was built of limestone, was completely destroyed in the earthquake in 1583. The Church once again opened its doors to parishioners in 1595.

The construction of a new Church building in the shape of a Latin cross with stone walls, tower and the vestry was completed in 1613. In subsequent years was held on the construction of the monastery, consisting of two buildings, built in 1628. A strong earthquake of 1647 heavily damaged buildings - the Church lost its tower, and the monastery - the second floor. Soon the tower was rebuilt, the Church and the monastery continued to expand. The monastery was built a new infirmary, and in the temple there are several side chapels.

In 1730, another earthquake struck the city and again damaged the tower had to be demolished. Another tower of the Church was built in 1758, along with a new main entrance to the Church built of hewn stone. In 1828 the Church floor was made of bricks, the Church interior was decorated with mahogany. In 1854 the tower of the Church was again demolished and replaced by another by the architect Fermina Vivacita. The clock tower was built in 1857.

At the end of the XIX century Church of San Francisco continues to expand. In 1865 it was rebuilt the temple's facade is in the Baroque style. We also installed a marble pulpit, refurbished, coffered ceiling, upgraded moldings interior and exterior walls of the temple. In 1895, the chapel was built on the northeast corner of the Church. In 1929, there was built a new facade of the building overlooking London street.

With the onset of the twentieth century the Franciscans passed a large part of the monastery of the city. In the former monastery courtyard and garden in the 1920's was built residential complex Paris-London de Santiago, and in a small area in front of the Church was a bower of flowers Pergola de Las Flores, which has immortalized in his play Isidora Aguirre and composer Francisco Flores del Campo in the musical Comedy of the same name. In the remaining part of the monastery building is a Colonial Museum of modern art San Francisco, opened in 1969.

In order to save the Church building, in 1951 it was declared a national monument of Chile. In the following years there were carried out restoration work in the Church building after the devastating earthquakes of 1986 and 2010. In 1998 the Church of St. Francis was submitted to the Chilean authorities to UNESCO as a candidate for inclusion in the world heritage list.