San Michele, Baroque church in Alghero, Italy

San Michele is a Baroque church in Alghero featuring a distinctive octagonal dome covered with colored ceramic tiles rising above a simple sandstone facade on Via Carlo Alberto. The interior contains religious artworks arranged in the typical layout of a Baroque church with a main altar and side chapels.

A church dedicated to Saint Michael is first documented on 19 February 1364, in a parchment by the notary Pere Fuyà that mentions a tower of S. Michele. The Jesuits arrived in Alghero in 1584 and received the church from Bishop Andrea Bacallar; their college was founded in 1588. The present building was rebuilt between 1661 and 1675 to a design by Domenico Spotorno of Savona.

The church is dedicated to Saint Michael, Alghero's patron saint, and the archangel appears on the main altarpiece and in a large wooden statue pinning Satan in chains beneath his feet. A polychrome marble plaque recalls Girolamo Ferret, benefactor of the church and college, with a Spanish inscription dated 1612. Above the entrance door a polychrome wooden choir loft carries the Jesuit monogram IHS.

The church sits at the intersection of Via Carlo Alberto and Via Gilbert Ferret in the city center and is easily reached on foot. Regular opening hours and occasional guided tours allow visitors to explore the interior at their own pace.

The octagonal dome, a symbol of Alghero, was covered around 1950 with polychrome tiles designed by Antonio Simon Mossa and Filippo Figari. The dome rests on a tall drum supported by pendentives and is topped by a lantern.