Chiesa di Santa Chiara

In 1229, Pope Nicholas IV granted the Rieti house of blessed Angelo Tancredi—one of Saint Francis's first companions—to four women wishing to live under the Franciscan Rule. Their community built a chapel to San Stefano and gradually attracted further patronage and donations, while dedication to Saint Clare, founder of the Order of Poor Ladies (later Poor Clares), joined it to the female Franciscan tradition established in Assisi.

In 1566, Casperia doctor and aristocrat Paolo Buonamici endowed the convent with thirty-six thousand scudi; his daughter and granddaughter were nuns there. The gift funded the present church, built from 1567 to 1594. Within Rieti's sacred network—the cathedral, Dominican San Domenico, and four surrounding Franciscan sanctuaries—Santa Chiara embodies the movement's female dimension.

Angelo Tancredi occupies a particular place in Franciscan history. As one of Saint Francis's first companions, he belongs to the generation that knew the founder personally, that shared his poverty and his vision before institutions formed around the movement. That his house in Rieti became the foundation of a women's community connects this site to the most personal layer of Franciscan history.

The four women who received the house in 1229 were establishing something new: a female Franciscan presence in a city that Francis himself had visited and where he would return. Their decision to live under the Franciscan Rule placed them within the movement that Clare of Assisi was shaping, a movement of women choosing radical poverty and contemplative prayer.

The thinness accumulated over the following centuries through the continuous prayer of the community, the construction of the larger church in the late sixteenth century, and the integration of the site into Rieti's network of sacred places. Whether the building retains an active religious community today is uncertain from available sources, but the historical layers remain embedded in the stone.

House of blessed Angelo Tancredi, companion of Saint Francis, granted to four Franciscan nuns in 1229

From domestic dwelling to small convent and chapel (San Stefano) to the present church dedicated to Saint Clare (1567-1594), funded by Paolo Buonamici's endowment.

The Chiesa di Santa Chiara sits within the medieval streets of Rieti's historic center, part of the dense fabric of churches, convents, and palazzi that characterize this ancient city. The building dates from the late sixteenth century, a period of relative architectural confidence that produced a church of modest but solid proportions.

For visitors tracing the Franciscan story through Rieti, the church offers a connection to the movement's earliest generation. To stand on the ground where Angelo Tancredi lived, where four women chose to follow the Franciscan path, is to encounter the movement at its most personal and intimate scale, before the great sanctuaries and the institutional structures that would come later.

The current state of the building and its accessibility for visitors should be verified locally before planning a visit. Rieti's tourist information office or the diocese can provide current information.

Within Rieti's historic center, in the Lazio region, approximately 80 km northeast of Rome.

In 1229, Pope Nicholas IV granted the house of blessed Angelo Tancredi of Rieti, one of Saint Francis's first companions, to four women who wished to live as nuns under the Franciscan Rule. They built a chapel to San Stefano and gradually expanded. In 1566, the aristocrat Paolo Buonamici of Casperia, whose daughter and granddaughter were among the nuns, endowed the convent with 36,000 scudi, enabling the construction of the present church (1567-1594).

Franciscan / Poor Clare tradition. Part of the broader Franciscan presence in the Rieti Valle Santa.

The nuns followed the Franciscan Rule, likely including the Divine Office, communal prayer, and the practices of the Poor Clare order.

Current religious activity status unclear from available sources. Verify locally.

Visit as part of a walking exploration of Rieti's historic center, combining with the cathedral and the church of San Domenico. If accessible, consider the Franciscan connection as you enter: this ground was once the home of one of Francis's first companions.

Santa Chiara invites reading through the lens of early Franciscan history, female religious life, and the sacred geography of Rieti.

Continue through the atlas by country, tradition, physical form, or a focused search that combines this place’s strongest context.

Explore other sacred places in the region. Proximity does not establish access or travel time; check each place’s guidance.

Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, Rieti

Rieti, Rieti, Italy

0.2 km away

Chiesa di San Domenico

Rieti, Rieti, Italy

0.2 km away

Santuario francescano di Fontecolombo

Fontecolombo, Rieti, Italy

3.6 km away

Santuario di Santa Rita, Cascia

Cascia, Perugia, Italy

37.3 km away

Sources consulted for this page. Source categories describe the publication, not a guarantee that every claim is verified. Traditional accounts and outside interpretations may differ.

1. 01Santa Chiara, Rieti - Wikipedia — Wikipedia contributorsencyclopediaBrief but factual entry on the church history