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[  CHURCH OF SAN DOMENICO ]

It is not know when the church was built, though some believe that it dates from the rebuilding of the city in 1289.

There is mention, in a document of 1337, of the Church of San Giovanni Battista (today known as San Domenico) which was being built. The Celestines (a branch of the Benedictine Order) of the church of San Giovanni are referred to in various documents up to 1405 but, over the course of the 15th Century, the Domenicans, who were already present in the City as early as 1380, took over.

In 1471 the Domenicans were recorded as having sold a house in order to carry out the reconstruction of their monastery adjoining the church of San Giovanni Battista. The building of the apse in 1655 is the work of Fra Michelangelo Nanni, who also made various architectural contributions in Rome. The friar, who died in 1671 and is buried in the crypt, also built the bell tower between 1654 and 1658, under the supervision of Giambattisti Benamati.

After the Unification of Italy the Monastery and Church, together with all its assets, were confiscated and the friars expelled. The monastic structure, which dates back to the 17th Century, became a police barracks and was severely damaged by partisan bomb attacks during the Second World War.

It is likely that the Celestine monks took the ancient church of San Francesco as their model when they built their own church. In the masonry along the sides of the church, we can see lines of pilaster strips and single trefoil windows. The soaring bell-tower bears an inscription in stone which reads: "[C]HRISTVS VINCIT/ CHR[IST]VS REGNAT/ CHRISTUS/ C[HRI]STUS [IMPER]AT" - Christ Conquers, Christ Reigns, Christ, Christ Rules".

The front doorway, bearing the date of 1483, has finely carved and fluted pilaster strips and uses two colours of stone. The carved crest at the centre of the architrave, set between a garland of thistles and bas relief ribbons, is perhaps that of Luca Preziosi, who commissioned the work.

The interior is a vast, single nave covered by an exposed truss-beam roof. The painting on the 1st altar to the left is The Miracle of Soriano from the Neapolitan School, dating from the first half of the 17th Century. The wooden door forming the predella (or base) of the altar, which depicts a landscape, conceals behind it a painting of the Holy Shroud placed within a frame supported by bas relief putti.

To the side of this altar is a monument, dated 1481, which Pietro Tiranni erected in memory of his wife. The powerful Tiranni was so well respected at the court of the Duke of Urbino as to be given care of the heir, Francesco Maria I della Rovere, during the invasion of the Duke's territory in 1502.

He commissioned Giovanni Santi (Raphael's father) to paint the fresco of Christ in the Tomb between Saint Jerome and Saint Bonaventure in Flemish style.

The second altar on the left is the famous Tiranni chapel, which is also the work of Giovanni Santi. The elegant and harmonious design of the altar was entrusted in its entirety to Santi, who is traditionally thought to have carried it out in the early 1490s, prior to his death in 1494.

The Annunciation appears in the two tondi on the inner surface of the arch, while on the wall behind are The Madonna and Child with Saints and The Resurrection of Christ. On the left hand side you see Saint Peter holding the keys and, by the side of him, Saint Francis.

There is then an angel with a lively expression who is looking towards the visitor. This is traditionally believed to be a portrait of Raphael at the age of nine. The Virgin is at the centre, with the Child stranding on her knees (here one feels the influence of Perugino). Finally, there are Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint John the Baptist, whose face is said to be a self-portrait of the painter. The cruet set on the floor symbolise Christ's sacrifice, while the flame of the candle indicates the possibility, through Faith, of obtaining Eternal Life. Finally, beneath the arch is Christ in Benediction.

The third altar on the left, bearing the crest of the della Rovere family, holds a 20th Century statue of The Madonna of the Rosary and around it, in the niche, the Mysteries of the Rosary, a series of fifteen small paintings by different artists, some appearing to be unfinished, and bearing clear references to the work of Barocci.

The oval Coronation of the Virgin in the tympanum is reminiscent of the works of Cialdieri. To the side of the altar can be seen a fragment from the medieval fresco decoration which originally covered the church. This was plastered over in 1576. The present walls are decorated with a false perspective which dates from 1845.

In the presbytery, to the side of the main altar, there is a late 16th Century painting of The Madonna Enthroned with Child and Saints Antonine and Leonard. The landscape shows Flemish and Mannerist influence. The Annunciation is painted on two panels.

The altar piece at the centre of the apse is a 17th Century depiction of The Vision of Saint Giacinto in the style of Barocci. Two pictures on the wall show Saint Rose of Lima and Saint Pius V, who was canonised in 1712.

The third altar, on the right hand side of the Church, holds a 17th Century painting of The Saviour of the World with Saint Vincent Ferrere and Saints, among whom is Saint Pius V. It is not known who painted Christ showing his wound to Saint Catherine of Siena on the second altar to the right, though there are clear references to the work of Gaetano Lapis.

The fresco of The Annunciation, which appears between the two altars, was found beneath the plaster work in 1837. It has been attributed to Girolamo Genga, although a recent research suggests that Timiteo Viti was the author of the Annunciation and Giuliano Persciutti painted the Heavenly Father in the lunette. The Presentation at the Temple on the first altar is by Gaetano Lapis who painted a copy in 1764 for the Church of San Filippo at Spoleto.

The organ in the choir loft bears the name of Carlo Carletti from Fabriano.

The large crypt, reached by a staircase at the side of the Tiranni chapel, has a cross-vaulted ceiling which rests upon seven square columns. The cycle of frescoes here, depicting The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Nativity and The Circumcision, is by Antonio Viviani, nicknamed Il Sordo (the deaf one). The present restoration work to the crypt is likely to reveal a further painting in the cycle.

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