Now incorporated by private homes in the historic district of Stampace, the area of the ancient convent of San Francesco is currently between Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and Via Mameli. The cloister is the only partially surviving structure of the monumental complex, destroyed at the end of the 19th century. The area corresponds to a terraced sector of the ancient city, which developed towards O especially with structures from the Roman age: the forum, in the area of the current Piazza del Carmine, the thermal facilities, in that of Viale Trieste, the necropolis, towards Sant'Avendrace, a residential district (the so-called “villa of Tigellio”) and the Roman amphitheater on the slopes of Castello.
Two archival documents attest to the sale of four lands to convent minors in 1275, with the delimitation of the boundaries within which their new foundation could be established in the ancient Cagliari district of Stampace. The complex, including the church, the cloister and the monastery, was expanded starting from the 15th century.
The convent of San Francesco di Stampace was of fundamental importance not only for the religious life of the city, but also for its bourgeois and mercantile society, which contributed to the embellishment of the church with sculptures and altarpieces, today mostly in the National Art Gallery of Cagliari. Unfortunately, on November 1, 1871, the church bell tower was struck by lightning, which led to the subsequent collapse of the roof truss on January 11, 1875, marking the beginning of the process of degradation and the end of the monumental complex, demolished to make way for residential buildings.
The church had a “commission” cross plan, with a single large nave covered in wood, ending with a transept overlooked by three chapels, square and vaulted in a ribbed cross. The floor plan is believed to have been derived from Cistercian models. Regardless of the walls and sculptural elements incorporated in modern buildings, only old photographs remain of the church and the portal reassembled in the façade of the Sanctuary of Bonaria.
Access to the cloister was made through the presbytery of the church. On the side facing Via Mameli, the S wing is visible, even if it survived for a few meters, compared to 35 in total. Inside some commercial premises along Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, you can see some crown-vaulted and dotted chapels, with a pendulous gem.

History of studies
The two oldest archival documents on the founding of the convent were already reported by Giovanni Spano (1861) and studied by Costantino Devilla (1953). The description of the canon Spano is precious, which dates back to years before the ruin of the complex, which included: “the most beautiful cloister of the convents in Sardinia formed in a square with Gothic architecture, and with arches that in the capitals and in the middle of the vault are adorned with saints, and with monstrous sculpted figures”. Important are the return of Dionigi Scano (1938), which allows for a reliable graphic vision of the monument, and the historical and artistic analysis of Raffaello Delogu (1953). The work of Francesca Segni Pulvirenti and Aldo Sari (1994) shows a three-dimensional reconstruction of the church.

Bibliography by
G. Spano, Guide to the city and surroundings of Cagliari, Cagliari, Timon, 1861, pp. 169-187;
D. Scano, History of Art in Sardinia from the 11th to the 14th century, Cagliari-Sassari, Montorsi, 1907, pp. 400-408;
D. Scano, “Leftovers and memories in Cagliari of a famous Franciscan monument”, in Palladio, II, 1938, pp. 121-127; C. Devilla, The Friars Minor Conventual in Sardinia, Sassari, 1958;
R. Delogu, The Architecture of the Middle Ages Evo in Sardinia, Rome, La Libreria of the State, 1953, pp. 212-214;
M.G, Cossu, “The Pisan charter of March 1, 1230, the first document of the Franciscan presence in Sardinia, and the church of Santa Maria de Portu Gruttis”, in Biblioteca Francescana Sarda, I, 1, 1987, pp. 41-49;
G. Stefani, “The Church in the Nineteenth Century: Chronicle of an Announced Collapse”, in Quaderno. S. Francesco di Stampace, IV, 1991;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque architecture from the middle of the thousand to the early '300, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, sheet 148;
F. Segni Pulvirenti - A. Sari, Late Gothic and Renaissance-influenced architecture. Nuoro, Ilisso, 1994, sheet 4;
Michele Pintus, “Architecture”, in Cagliari. Historic neighborhoods. Stampace, Cinisello Balsamo, 1995, pp. 94-95.

How to get there
In the urban center of Cagliari, leave Piazza Yenne to enter Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. A few tens of meters away, on the left side of the road, there are several rooms inside which you can find remains of the church and the cloister, also visible from the inner courtyard, used as a private car park, which can be accessed from Via Mameli.