The Church of St. Francis (Igreja de São Francisco) was built between 1475 and the 1550s. There was an older Romanesque church with the same name (dating to 1226), but the citizens of Évora desired something more in tune with the fashionable Gothic style. Master-builder Martim Lourenço obliged them with a unique building that blends Gothic and Moorish elements. This fusion is most evident in the seven arches of the frontal arcade, where Lourenço combined semi-circular, pointed, and horseshoe curves. The church was built on the property of a monastery established by Spanish Franciscan friars who came to Évora to propagate the spiritual joy propounded by Francis of Assisi. The single nave (the central part of the church) is the largest of its kind in Portugal, an architectural feat that makes the church stand out.