Church of Saint Francis: Overall view, from the Place Saint-François

Lausanne was originally a suffragan of the archbishopric of Lyon (certainly by about the seventh century). The Franciscan church of St. François was built 1258-1272. Throughout the Middle Ages, the church was the heart of a sizable monastic complex sheltered by the southern city wall. The nave had to be fully renovated after Lausanne’s devastating fire in 1368, at which time the clock tower was also added, and chapels and murals were donated by wealthy families in the 14th and 15th centuries. The other monastic buildings have not survived; the last remaining walls of the monastery were demolished between 1895 and 1902. In 1536 it became a Swiss Reformed parish church.