The Carmelites abandoned their initial eremitic life when Pope Innocent IV, in reviewing the Rule of the Order, instructed the construction of churches and convents near towns.
The friars who arrived in Siena in the mid-thirteenth century settled in a rural area just outside the city walls and began to build their church. It later became part of the modern city, and also gave the name to the road where it is located, the Piano dei Mantellini: the legend goes that a painting of the Blessed Virgin, now missing, embellished the church's façade. After some graces bestowed on children, little skirts or mantellini were hung under the painting in sign of devotion. In 1261, during its construction, the friars asked and obtained from Pope Urban IV the permission to bury in their church even people that did not belong to the Order, a privilege that the devout reciprocated with many offerings, used by the friars to support the construction expenses. Following the Church’s will, they fully integrated into the city’s social fabric, committing themselves to the education of the faithful, assisting them in prayer and helping them to live peacefully under the aegis of the Gospel. Because of their role as “social assistants” and spiritual mentors, the Carmelites received recognition by the municipality of Siena, who actively took part in the construction and constant maintenance of . . .