The San Domenico is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located on Piazza

Giacomo Leopardi Count Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi (29 June 1798 – 14 June 1837) was an Italian philosopher, poet, essayist, and philologist. Considered the greatest Italian poet of the 19th century and one of the greatest a ...

#3 in the center of the town of

Recanati Recanati () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Macerata, in the Italian region of Marche. Recanati was founded around 1150 AD from three pre-existing castles. In 1290 it proclaimed itself an independent republic and, in the 15th c ...

, province of

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza (ri ...

, in the region of

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, Italy.

History

The Dominicans arrived in Recanati soon after 1272, and began construction of a church and monastery. The latter no longer exists. This church was first completed in the 14th century presumably at the site of an earlier pagan Roman temple. The brick facade has mullioned windows in Gothic style. It was rebuilt in the early 18th century, and had further refurbishments. The interior is said to hold a relic of the Holy Cross transported here by Peter of Verona. This venerated relic was housed in a silver crucifix; when the weather appeared inclement, the crucifix was brought outside to ward away threatening storms. The first altar on the left has a fresco depicting ''St Vincent Ferrer'' (1513) by

Lorenzo Lotto Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556/57) was an Italian Renaissance painter, draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school, though much of his career was spent in other north Italian cities. He painted mainly altarpie ...

. Since the 19th century, Lotto's famous Recanati Polyptych (1508), made for this church, has been relocated, and in 2016 it is housed in the Civic Museum of Villa Colloredo Mels of Recanati. It is faced by a terracotta statue of ''St Sebastian'' by Torregiani. The portal of the church, made of white

Istrian stone Istrian stone, ''pietra d'Istria'', the characteristic group of building stones in the architecture of Venice, Istria and Dalmatia, is a dense type of impermeable limestone that was quarried in Istria, nowadays Croatia; between Portorož and P ...

, was designed by Giuliano da Maiano. The portal has garlanded frieze above and festoons of fruits along the side. Two columns protrude forward with lion bases and Corinthian capitals. The sculpted portal resembles that of the contemporary church of Sant'Agostino in town. Nearby the church on a rise of the street to the right of the church is the 16th century Porta San Domenico, one of the thirteen gates of the town.Province of Macerata Tourism
entry on church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Domenico Recanati Roman Catholic churches in Recanati 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Gothic architecture in le Marche