São Francisco de Assis is the church most visitors remember from São João del Rei. Its curved rococo façade, carved stonework, and quiet churchyard give it a softer grace than the heavier baroque interiors elsewhere in town.
The church is also part of the wider São João-Tiradentes circuit described by IPHAN, where the region's religious architecture moves from early eighteenth-century forms toward late rococo. If you only enter one church here, make it this one.