The Monastery of San Bernardino di Morano Calabro, in late gothic style, was built ex novo in the half of the XV century, and through a careful restoration, it has come to a complete recovery of almost all the original elements, factors, which offer a paradigm of the monastic art of calabrese period.
The Foundation was officially thanks to the interest of the prince Pietrantonio Sanseverino sanctioned by a bubble of Nicholas V of 31 May 1452 with which you gave permission to the start of the work. The reasons that combined the construction date back mainly for two reasons: to the munificence of the Sanseverino family who wanted to equip a prestigious work of art is one of the main centers of their possessions (as demonstrated by the Commission of the polyptych by Vivarini in 1477 for the Church), secondly you contribute to the close bond that in those years the aragonese monarchy was weaving with the Order of the Friars Minor, which he had subsequently the ownership.
The church occupies the entire right side of the assembly. The outside is homogeneous with the overall simplicity of architectures, so as it is considered typical of ideals pauperistici Franciscans. The input is opened by a porch composed of five arches in masonry to all sixth, on the bottom wall appear traces of frescoes dating back to the beginning of the sixteenth century. Below them is the portal of access to the church in tufa stone acute sixth, and a second smaller with lowered arch that enters in the cloister of the adjacent monastery. The interior consists of a central nave divided on the bottom by the presbytery through a grandiose pointed arch; along the entire right side of this, three arches lead to the small lateral nave divided into two environments. Twenty-four columns of octagonal shape in tuff undergird the arches of the cloister, where there are traces of frescoes painted between 1538 and 1738 and representing the life of St Francis of Assisi.
The ceiling of the central nave of the church is in wood worked in quadri carenato alla Veneziana. Under the holy arch that dominates the high altar there is positioned a crucifix of the XV century by southern unknown by connotations vividly dramatic-realistic; at the foot of this was positioned on the already quoted polyptych by Vivarini and in the top left, dominates the nave one splendid pulpit with canopy of 1611 with decorations of classical taste and depictions in bas-relief of some saints. Belongs to the trousseau sacred choir dated 1656 and a lectern 1538 located in the apse and recently restored.
