the stone arch way. The cane would be bent in the desired shape (a gothic arch) and supported from beneath. Then the masons would place the rubble and mortar in shape. The first layer would be allowed to set and then the higher level would be installed, again built with a combination of rubble and cut stone placed at the edges of the structure. The cathedral before the 1960s was covered in baroque ornamentation from much later periods. Pictures exist of the cathedral with an additional set of windows to the right and left of the great portal. If you look at the face of the wall you will notice newer rectangular stones placed where the windows once existed. To know if the windows were original to the design you would have to search out a template, possibly in Lanciano. The bell tower of the cathedral was built later and it too incorporates classical elements in its structure." San Francesco The Franciscan church is contemporary with the cathedral, but with a simpler and more restrained monastic taste. During recent restorations, primitive wall paintings were found behind the choir. Much of its later Baroque ornamentation has been removed with recent restorations. In the exposed side wall of the church, there are three bricked-in elongated windows. The wall itself is an odd combination of cut stone, brick, and rubble. At one time it was thought that the different materials may have been caused by repair to damage caused by an earthquake, but the truth is likely that the base was made of regular cut stone. Once above the level of the base any materials could be used because they were likely faced with a plaster much as many columns from Roman times were actually built with brick with a smooth coating of cement. The Fleur De Lys appear on the columns at the portal because the Kings and Monks who supervised construction were French. The local workers were likely employed as common labourers. The cut stone was hauled by the horse and bull drawn carts from the classical city to the construction site. Roof tiles were made in "the French manner" and the walls were completely covered in frescoes. San Francesco was built almost devoid of stone ornamentation. The church we see today, like so many Italian churches, was forced later to adhere to a taste for Baroque with what many moderns