San Domenico Church

The Church of San Domenico, adjoining the College of the Pious Schools, was also built thanks to the generosity of the benefactor Notary Santo Cavallo, who chose to dedicate the church to a saint to whom he was particularly devoted.

While its exterior is relatively understated, the church reveals one of the most sumptuous and elegant interiors among Turi’s religious buildings, richly embellished with stucco decoration. It has a single-nave plan, with shallow side arches forming chapels that house finely crafted stone altars. These originally displayed a number of paintings of significant historical and artistic value, which were replaced during the 19th century by the niches visible today. These contain statues of considerable devotional and artistic importance, including Our Lady of Sorrows, Saint Roch, Saint Lucy and Saint Joseph Calasanz.

The interior is dominated by a magnificent Baroque altarpiece, richly carved in wood and gilded. At its centre is a painting depicting Saint Dominic and Saint Anthony Adoring the Virgin in Glory, attributed to the school of Paolo Finoglio. The high altar also bears two coats of arms of the Piarist Order, reflecting the church’s connection with the Pious Schools, while two further emblems can be seen on the polychrome marble holy-water fonts.

The church houses several important works from the Neapolitan school, including The Lamentation over the Dead Christ and The Virgin Appearing to Saint Leonard. Other paintings are signed by Donato Paolo Conversi and depict two episodes from the lives of Saint Dominic de Guzmán and Saint Anthony of Padua.

Against the third pillar on the right stands an elaborately carved and painted wooden pulpit, richly decorated with polychrome and gilded details. Supported by a curved bracket and crowned by an equally ornate canopy, the pulpit was used for preaching and most likely dates from the late 17th century. Its decoration echoes that of the choir loft above the main entrance, which houses a fine pipe organ built by Giuseppe Rubino.

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