St Francis church was originally part of a Franciscan monastery, and was alongside the Royal Palace. Today it can be found close to the Venetian Palace. It consists of a three-sided apse with a small chapel off the south side. Buttressing supported the external walls. It was built in the early years of the 14th Century with funding supplied by Henry II, King of Cyprus who reigned from 1285 to 1324. Henry's reign was far from peaceful. He saw the fall of Acre in 1291, his own imprisonment from 1306 to 1310, and the disbandment of the Knights Templars in 1313. In the latter years of his reign, however, not only did he fund the building of this church, but he saw the fortification of Famagusta, and the start of the rebuilding of St Nicholas Cathedral.