Chiesa di San Domenico

San Domenico records the Dominican presence in Ravenna through its medieval foundations and later Baroque redesign. The church was built beside the order's convent in 1269, near the buried Padenna canal, and preserves a façade shaped by successive additions.

Why it matters

The church enlarged an earlier medieval building and reached its present façade dimensions in 1374. Pointed arches once sheltered funerary monuments, reflecting the site's role in the life of the religious community. Gianbattista Contini redesigned the interior and exterior in the eighteenth century.

What to notice

The façade remains unfinished above, with pointed arches beside the entrance. The church's single nave is lined by six side chapels, with another beside the apse. Its documented works include paintings by Luca Longhi, Nicolò Rondinelli, Camillo Morigia and Andrea Barbiani, as well as fragments of medieval painting associated with the sacristy and bell-tower chapel.

Context and history

The Dominicans remained at San Domenico until 1797. The building later served as a parish church until 1963. Its surviving architecture and recorded paintings reflect the changing religious and civic uses of Ravenna's historic centre.