The Basilica is the largest Franciscan church in the world. Its most notable features are its sixteen chapels, many of them decorated
with frescoes by Giotto and his pupils, and its tombs and cenotaphs. It is the burial place of some of the most illustrious
Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Foscolo, Gentile, Rossini, and Marconi. Thus it is known also
as the Temple of the Italian Glories. The construction of the current church to replace an older building
was begun on May 12, 1294.

A Jewish architect, Niccolo Matas from Ancona, designed the church's 19th century neo-Gothic facade, working a prominent Star of
David into the composition. Matas had wanted to be buried with his peers, but because he was Jewish, he was buried under
the porch and not within the walls.