The three-aisled Church of Our Lady of Health, originally the Abbey of St Michael the Archangel until the mid-19th century, is the first church in the city of Krk built in the Romanesque style. It once belonged to a Benedictine monastery of the same name. The western facade features a two-storey bell tower with a pyramidal top, reminiscent of the architecture of two other significant island churches – St Vitus in Sveti Vid Dobrinjski and St Lucy in Jurandvor. The church originally had three apses, of which only the central one has been preserved. The apses of the side aisles have disappeared over time, but their arches remain in the wall, along with the foundations of the northern one. In the mid-19th century, a tympanum carved in an irregular semicircle depicting fig leaves and a hand with two raised fingers (a symbol of blessing) was returned above the entrance. This motif is tied to the legend of the barren fig tree, which reminded monks and other believers of the values of a holy life. The relief likely dates back to the Romanesque period when the church was built or renovated. During the restoration of the apse in 1973, a stone frieze decorated with Romanesque interlacing was discovered beneath the plaster, believed to date back to the 11th century.

The church was first mentioned in 1271 in the will of Spreza de Dominiko, who left land to the Abbey of St Michael in Krk. It is clear this reference includes the church, as monasteries were often named after the saints to whom their churches were dedicated.

A Benedictine monastery once stood alongside the church, where monks lived until the mid-15th century. The monastery buildings were located in a garden, one of which was attached to the church, but they have since been entirely lost. 

Franciscans were first mentioned in Krk in the 13th century, specifically in Staša Aurumelechino’s will of 1277. The Church of St Francis was explicitly referenced in the will of Desa de Banissa in 1284. By 1300, the Confraternity of St Francis had already been established with numerous members. According to legend, recorded in 1500, St Francis stopped in Krk (in patribus Sclavoniae) during a storm and met a hermit who embraced his teachings, founding the Franciscan order there. Whether legend or fact, the Franciscans established their monastery in Krk shortly after St Francis’s death in 1244.

The Church of St Francis is single-aisle, oriented east-west, with a semicircular Gothic vaulted apse forming a unified structure with the nave. The bell tower was not built alongside the church but added later in stages, with the upper section completed in 1743.

The Franciscans of Krk possess one of the most valuable works of art – a depiction of the Madonna and Child by early Renaissance master Vittore Carpaccio.