San Domenico, Gothic parish church in Casale Monferrato, Italy.
San Domenico is a church in Casale Monferrato whose terracotta facade is divided by projecting buttresses. Its most valued element is the 1505 portal, topped by a rose window framed by the signs of the zodiac. The interior has three naves on tall columns; the Dominicans suppressed a fourth nave in 1675 to make the church symmetrical.
San Domenico was founded in 1472 by Guglielmo VIII of Montferrat and completed in 1506 under Bonifacio V, who entrusted it to the Dominican Fathers; the adjoining convent was built in the same years. Church and convent stayed united until 1822, when after the Napoleonic suppressions part of the convent was split into three lots and sold to private owners.
The church is the seat of the Confraternita dei Nobili, the noble confraternity that has gathered here since the building was founded. Inside, visitors can see the Cappella del Rosario, rich in stuccoes and decoration, and the Renaissance cloister of the former convent. The tomb of Benvenuto Sangiorgio, a knight of the Order of Saint John and member of the Casale senate, recalls the local nobility.
The facade faces the street with its 1505 portal and zodiac-framed rose window; the entrance is on this front. The interior is divided into three naves, and a fourth nave was suppressed by the Dominicans in 1675 to make the plan symmetrical. The former convent, partly divided into three lots after 1822, holds the Rosary Chapel, the Renaissance cloister and the bell tower.
The rose window above the 1505 portal is framed by the signs of the zodiac, a detail many visitors miss while looking at the facade. The Dominicans suppressed a fourth nave in 1675 to make the interior symmetrical.
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