The church of San Domenico is a Catholic place of worship in Cesena, on viale Jacopo Mazzoni, in the historic centre; it is the seat of the parish of the same name in the diocese of Cesena-Sarsina.
What to see
The interior has a longitudinal plan, with a single nave, three chapels on each side and a semicircular apse. It preserves evidence of local seventeenth-century painting, such as the painting La Madonna del Carmine with Saints Jerome, Francis of Assisi, John the Baptist and a female martyr saint, by Gian Francesco Modigliani, a painter of the Forlì school. After losing much of its original collection, the church acquired others from suppressed institutions of the town, including paintings by Cristoforo Serra and Cristoforo Savolini, who painted the altarpiece of San Donnino; the sources also mention a Miracle of Saint Aldebrando by Andrea Mainardi, originally in the church of Santa Croce in Rimini, a Madonna and Child with Saints Anne, Francis de Sales and Charles Borromeo by Felice Torelli and a saint bishop and martyr by Guido Cagnacci, from around 1660.
A first church on this site dates to 1240, inspired by the preaching of Saint Peter Martyr, and was rebuilt in 1383 with the backing of Galeotto I Malatesta. The present building was begun in 1706, according to the sources to a design by the architect Francesco Zondini, and stands on the remains of the earlier church, whose two cloisters can still be admired. In the bell tower, completely restored between 2019 and 2020, hang three bells: the largest was cast by Gaspare Landi in 1691, the two smaller ones by the Colbachini foundry of Padua in 1895.
Visiting
The church is on viale Jacopo Mazzoni, in the historic centre of Cesena. The sources consulted give no opening hours: these should be checked with the parish.
Our editors' tip
Ask at the parish whether the two cloisters of the earlier church, which the sources say can still be admired, can be visited: they predate the work begun in 1706.
