"Some information found online:
The convent complex of S. Domenico, consisting of the church and the adjacent structures of the convent, was built outside the walls at the behest of Bishop Giacinto Petronio, around 1636. The work on the structure was completed only in 1744. Documents dating back to 1781 still attest to the presence of 31 monks inside the convent, but a few years later, in 1799, it was sacked during the city uprisings. After 1805, the convent was abandoned by the Dominicans and entrusted to the Benedictine nuns, who ceded it to the Municipality of Molfetta in 1867, thus becoming the site of a school.

CHURCH
The main façade, in Baroque style, is preceded by a pronaos with three round arches; in the lateral niches are placed the statues of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Mary Magdalene, protectors of the Dominican Order. The church houses two valuable examples of local Baroque art, including a canvas by Corrado Giaquinto (18th century) depicting the Madonna del Rosario.

It was consecrated by Monsignor Sarnelli no earlier than 1699, according to an inscription. A plaque instead reports the date of consecration (1761) of the main altar and the other altar in the choir, which were both renovated in marble. The building was completely renovated in Baroque style in 1773. The church became a parish in 1915. In 1940, due to a lesion that arose on the keystone of the main hall, presumably caused by an earthquake, the church was restored again.

The building is on two levels, with a burial ground below. It has a rectangular plan with a barrel vault, divided into a nave and a presbytery separated by a marble balustrade. On the sides, large arches correspond to the side chapels, also barrel-vaulted. The facings are made of rubble masonry, with regular blocks of local limestone, worked in rustication on the external wall. The main entrance is preceded by the churchyard and a porticoed vestibule with three arches supported by pillars. The portico is divided into five bays by as many cross vaults, the central one of which is decorated with ribbed floral garlands at whose intersection the image of the face of St. Dominic is sculpted; the two side bays are now isolated from the rest of the portico by two symmetrical walls in which two small doors open. On the sides of the three arches there are two rectangular niches which, surmounted by triangular frames, house the statues of St. Mary Magdalene (on the left) and St. Catherine of Alexandria (on the right). In the upper order there are five rectangular windows surmounted by alternating curved and triangular tympanums; between one window and another, above ribbon-like volutes, pairs of facing putti, each of which holds a scroll. Above them, a second order of windows, smaller and simpler, surmounted by a frieze, concludes the second floor of the façade. It is completed by a triangular tympanum connected to the rest of the structure by thin volutes. Inside, stucco decorations in Baroque style.

CONVENT
The work on the monastery and the roof was completed only in 1744. Documents dating back to 1781 attest to the presence of 31 monks inside the convent. A few years later, in 1799, it was sacked during the riots. After 1805, the convent was abandoned by the Dominicans and entrusted to the Benedictine nuns, who sold it to the Municipality of Molfetta in 1867, becoming the site of a school.

The building is constructed of masonry with medium-sized square blocks arranged in horizontal rows; it is spread over several levels: a ground floor, first and second floors and basements. The rooms are surmounted by a round cross vault. On the main façade, divided into three orders by string courses, there are three entrances and six windows on the ground floor; in the upper order there are two French windows and nine windows; finally, at the top level there are eleven openings."

Mattia Albanese

"A large and welcoming space in the beautiful historic village of Molfetta...to visit and frequent"

GIANFRANCO BALDASSARRE

"Well-kept and welcoming place, excellent choice to have it as a cultural container and library."

Giuseppe Recchia