The church of San Domenico is a structure included in the ancient Dominican convent in Putignano. It has a rectangular plan otherwise called a Latin cross. The interior, with dimensions of 40m in length and 17m in width, has wonderful stuccoes and bas-reliefs that decorate it and make it a unique architectural structure that captivates the visitor.

Along the central nave there are three chapels on each side with a barrel vault. The Latin cross plan foresees the vertical arm constituted by the nave, while the horizontal arm is given by the transept. The structure of the transept has barrel vaults and is placed at the same height as that of the central nave and the presbytery.

In the lower part, under the typical “chianche” paving of the church, there are the cemetery crypts. In the past, the crypts housed the bodies of the faithful departed and were accessible from three special hatches still present today in the central nave.

At the beginning of the arch that marks the beginning of the transept we read: HIC DEUM ADORA

The space on the arch at the beginning of the transept is finely decorated with stucco bas-reliefs depicting two angels and with additional floral motifs. From the presbytery you have access to the ancient sacristy and the bell tower through intermediate cells. Behind the main altar are the wooden choir and the reliquary.

Above the choir there is an eighteenth-century organ contained in a chest with an elegant front, made of perforated, carved and decorated wood, which harmonizes well with the remaining wooden furniture in the church. Behind the organ is a modest choir, once used for private use by the religious community and the singers during solemn celebrations.

The organ of the church of San Domenico was also mentioned by Benedetto Croce in his reconstruction of the history between Domenico Giovinazziformer monk who lived in the Dominican Convent of Putignano and the German writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The monk in 1717, while he was in the Putignano convent, was disciplinarily punished for an unspecified question of women which cost him imprisonment in the convent prison. He escaped from prison, abandoning Puglia and taking refuge in Naples, and once expelled from the Dominican Order, he moved to Frankfurt, where he became an Italian teacher.


Benedetto Croce, with the intention of reconstructing Giovinazzi's life, reached Putignano and visited the church of San Domenico (among other things, right in front of the church is the building where the publisher of Croce, Giovanni Laterza from Putignano , began his business) and so he wrote about it (download the attachment):

«La chiesa, dal portale secentesco con iscrizione attinta al Genesi: Haec Domus Dei est et Porta Coeli, ha quattro cappelle per ciascun lato, il coro intagliato di arte barocca, dove padre Domenico, guardando il gruppo della Deposizione che è di contro, salmeggiava prima di cantare a Francoforte: Solitario bosco ombroso, e un organo, sul quale egli forse si esercitò nella musica che prediligeva.».