In the late 1438, in the memory of Santa Caterina from Alessandria, a narrow sanctuary was built on the most exposed rocky spur of Vieste. It was entrusted to the Clarisse nuns by the Count Stabulo Algracio.
Vieste, at that time known as ‘La Sperduta’ (The Remote) due to the absence of roads linking it to the towns nearby, was reached mostly by sea. This was making the town easily accessible by both sailor and corsairs from the East, who attacked ‘La Sperduta’ multiple times.
One of the most strenuous invasion was the one felled by the Turkish corsair  Ahmed Pasha, who was ordered by the king Maometto II to plunder the town. One of the upsetting outcome of this event was the almost total destruction of the sanctuary, which was then abandoned until the 1546. In that same year, the Franciscan friars, bearers of the word of God around the world through acts of love, arrived in Vieste and decided to stay with the purpose of rebuilding the sanctuary of Saint Francis, from which the church has taken the name. Thanks to the friars, the complex was extended and a massive ‘baluardo’ (bastion) was raised to discourage attacks from the sea.
However, the church once again did not have fortune. And, in the 1646, Vieste was seeing its church been teared down, this time by a violent earthquake, which forced the population of Vieste to move to the farmlands nearby. But also in that occasion the Francis friars, motivated by their believe, came together to restore the church. Until, in 1809, they were sent away following the abrogation of the religious order emanated by Napoleone.
The building was so turned into a military station and then into a military prison, but it did not last long.
Despite all these vicissitudes, today the church is still there as a holy place and nobody  has ever succeeded in modifying its name because of the attachment of the viestani population through those Francis friars.
The church of Saint Francis, surrounded by its massive ‘baluardo’, can be admired by the balcony of this room, in a panorama where the old town meets the sea and, together with the sky, creates a marvellous frame for this enchanting construction.