The building was already under construction at the end of the 16th century and rose on the edge of the city of the time; although the exterior shows an austere character, barely enlivened by a small brick bell tower, the interior è adorned with a sumptuous stucco decoration with late Baroque motifs, culminating in the dramatic main altar; here, two pairs of columns frame the niche of the statue of St. Francis and are connected above by large volutes around the Franciscan symbol (the arm of Christ crossing that of the saint). This composition is very reminiscent of the church of the College of Mary, completed in 1774, and it is possible to assume that the same craftsmen worked in both factories.
The altars flanking the church’s single nave contain several works of art, among which we draw attention to the painting of the Holy Mother of Light; the work bears the date 1757 and can be attributed to the workshop of Gaetano and Antonio Mercurio, authors of the canvas with the same subject kept in the church of San Rocco in Motta d’Affermo. Another interesting 18th-century canvas, rare as an iconographic subject, è that of the Transit of St. Joseph, depicting the death of the saint, assisted by Jesus and Mary, under the gaze of God the Father and the Holy Spirit.
In addition to the wooden statue of St. Anthony of Padua from the late eighteenth century, mention should still be made of the fine Madonna and Child from the destroyed Church of the Most Holy Savior attached to the Mount of Pietà the sculpture is based on Gaginian models and can be dated to the mid-sixteenth century and referred to the workshop of Diego Ingutierrez or the same master.
The small oratory at the back of the church, currently used as a sacristy, is characterized by its stucco decoration and extensive frescoes on the walls (in a mediocre state of preservation), as well as by its floors with majolica-tiled terracotta tiles; the confraternity of St. Francis used to meet in this place, as can be inferred from the minutes of the pastoral visit of Don Biagio Proto in 1634, which refer to a «congregatio laiicorum, qui utuntur saccis ex tela et mozzetta lanae…».