The basilica of San Domenico is a church in the historic centre of Barletta, on corso Garibaldi, with the adjoining college.
What to see
Corso Garibaldi, where the basilica stands, is one of the oldest historic routes linking Barletta with Canosa di Puglia. The façade has a single entrance, with a Baroque portal set between two large pilasters and flanked at the sides by two niches. In the mid-twentieth century substantial restoration work was carried out, during which four frescoes came to light and were restored: two show the preaching of Saint Vincent and the Pietà, works attributed respectively to Corrado Giaquinto and Pietro Novelli; the other two, the Madonna of the Rosary and Saint Hyacinth.
In 1238 the Apulian Dominican fathers settled in Barletta and built the first convent outside the walls, in the area near today's viale Giannone; during the sack of 1528 the church and the conventual building were razed to the ground. Around the middle of the sixteenth century the Dominicans took over and restructured the old Templar church of Santa Maria Maddalena and began to build the new convent, this time inside the walls. The church was enlarged in the early eighteenth century and given a new high altar, erected by Luigi della Marra. The convent has played an important role for the city, with aid to the needy, and housed the Pinacoteca De Nittis before its transfer to the castle and finally to Palazzo della Marra.
Visiting
The basilica is on corso Garibaldi, in the historic centre of Barletta. The sources consulted give no opening hours: these should be checked.
Our editors' tip
The three apses of the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre also face the same corso Garibaldi: the two basilicas are on the same street.
