The Franciscan Monastery sits on Gradišče hill above Nazarje, which Count Sigismund gave as a present to the bishop Tomaž Hren. The Franciscan brothers who came from Bosnia during the Turkish occupation started to build the monastery in the year 1635 and after four years the monastery family was able to move in. In the year 1747 the stone pilgrimage stairs and four pilgrimage chapels where built.
The monastery is also famous for its herbal pharmacy that is said to have started operating before the year 1695. In the years from 1786 until 1941, the Franciscan brothers also taught and educated youth.
In 1752 the library was founded in the monanstery, but was substantially damaged during World War II. Some books where preserved and placed in the renewed monastery library.