Church of San Domenico, Alba, Italy

The Church of San Domenico was built with the convent of San Domenico founded in the last years of the thirteenth century on land donated by Pietro De Brayda, a member of one of the main Albanian families of the time. Of the ancient building that occupied a large part of the block only the church survives today, whose appearance is the result of numerous interventions stratified over the centuries. Originally, in fact, the space of the naves was divided into two parts, probably separated by a pier: the so-called internal church, reserved for the friars and the external church, destined to welcome the faithful during the preaching. While the first was turned and decorated, the second was covered by simple exposed trusses.

In 1440 Pope Eugene IV allowed the priors to collect new funds through the granting of indulgences: it was from then on that, over the course of several decades, the semi-columns and the corresponding external buttresses were superimposed on the walls, intended to support the new vaults .

Following the Council of Trent (1545-1563) and the reform of the liturgy the building underwent considerable changes, with the merging of the two churches into a single uniform space: the altar was moved forward, while the choir, previously located in the central nave, was placed in the apse. Meanwhile, the San Domenico increased its role as a religious city center, certified between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by the construction of numerous noble tombs and new side chapels, built in the thickness of the walls as the building was tight between the street public and the cloister (now destroyed).

In the nineteenth century the slow decline of the convent began. First with the suppression desired by the French government (1801) which destined the premises for public use. Then with the passage to the Municipality that, shortly after the middle of the century, proceeded to its almost complete demolition to make room for the Royal College, today the seat of the Liceo Govone. Fortunately, the church was saved: it became the property of the parish of the Cathedral, was assigned to the Brotherhood of the Sacred Heart and reopened for worship in 1826. The last portion of the convent, which included the ancient chapter hall, was incredibly demolished in 1960. The church , the subject of a first conservative intervention in the 1930s, since 1975 it has been managed by the Famija Albèisa who promoted its complete restoration and still maintains it.