1554, March 17. The cabildo (town council) of Santiago, responding to a posthumous request from Pedro de Valdivia, donates the Hermitage of the Virgen del Socorro to the Franciscans. This is where the present church of San Francisco stands.

1575, June 5. Foundation stone of the church is laid.

1594, 23 of September. The little statue of the Virgen del Socorro is placed in the church. Two thirds of the nave and part of the transept have been constructed.

17th Century

1618. The church is finished. It is built in the form of a Latin cross with walls of stone. There is a tower, a stuccoed ceiling, sacristry and choir stalls.

1628. The arched brick cloisters next to the church are finished.

1647, May 13. An earthquake destroys the tower and the second floor of the cloisters.

1684. A series of paintings on the Life of St. Francis commissioned to decorate the Franciscan cloister in Santiago is completed in the workshop of Basilio de Santa Cruz, in Peru.

1698. The tower and the second storey of the cloister is reconstructed.

18th Century

1730, July 7. The tower is damaged by an earthquake.

1751. The tower is demolished and reconstructed for the third time.

1758. Stone blocks are used to finish the main entrance to the church. The monastery now has four cloisters and a refectory.

19th Century

1828. The floor of the church is paved with brick and a screen is placed on the side door of San Antonio. Mahogany chests are built in the sacristry.

1854. The third tower is demolished.

1857. Fermín Vivaceta finishes the fourth tower - the present one - with a four-faced clock. The organ is installed.

1865. The southern side nave is finished and the front of the building is altered.

1874. The roofing of the church and main cloister are repared.

1881. The baroque altar is replaced by the present one. Marble steps and lighting are installed in the presbytery.

1895. A chapel is built in the north-east corner of the church, thus completing the present rectangular plan.

20th Century

1905. A wooden floor is installed in the church.

1913. Demolition and sale of the interior cloisters of the monastery commence. The streets called París and Londres are built here.

1929 A porter’s lodge and façade on to Calle Londres are added to the monastery.

1960. The San Francisco Restoration Committee is formed.

1972. The Colonial Museum of San Francisco is inaugurated.

1974. The organ is restored.

1975. The main façade of the church is restored.

1981. The hall with the series on the Life of St Francis is inaugurated, the paintings having been restored in the workshop of Ramón Campos Larenas.

1982. Inauguration of the halls with the series on the Life of San Diego de Alcalá.

1983. The Gabriela Mistral room is opened.

1984-1985. Renovation of the museum. The Hall of Temporal Exhibitions is inaugurated.

1985, March 3. An earthquake damages the side naves of the church, the clock and the lintel of the monastery choir.

1986. Restoration commences. The base and pedestal of the altar of the Ossa Chapel are finished.

1988. Restoration of the painting "Geneology Tree of the Franciscan Order" begins.

I 989, October 4. Restoration of the monastery murals begins.

1990. The exterior and interior of the church are painted.

1992-1993. The central nave of the church and the halls and corridors of the museum are illuminated. In the Hall of Wrought Iron work, the false ceiling is removed to show the original beamed celing.

I 995. The exteriors of the church and monastery are painted. The second stage of the restoration of the Ossa Chapel begins.