Centro Tabor opened its doors to pilgrims in 2012 but the history of its host building, the Convent of San Francesco, goes back centuries.

In 1229 permission was granted to the Blessed Franciscan Pietro Gargalini, a native of Colle Val d'Elsa francescano, to built an oratory, giving life to one of the first Franciscan settlements in Tuscany. It was reconsecrated in 1485, having been scarred by Duke Alfonso of Calabria's troops during the 1479 siege of Colle. In 1866 the Convent was suppressed and its artworks removed: St Francis and St Ludwig of Toulouse, from a polyptych by Lippo Memmi, a Madonna and Child by Sano di Pietro and a Madonna and Child with St Dominic and St Francis by Pier Francesco Fiorentino are now all located in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena. Over the years the Convent has functioned as a hospital and a military barracks.

The purpose of the episocopal seminary dates back to 1940, thanks to the Bishop of Colle Val d'Elsa Francesco Niccoli, who bought the premises in 1937 and began to programme of restructuring. A final restoration took place in 1992, which allowed parts of the original frescoes, attributed to Cennino Cennini, Giovanni Maria Tolosani and Pier Francesco Fiorentino, to be uncovered.

Source: Wikipedia