| The church of san Domenico is one of the most significant Baroque expressions which can be found in the town of Ceglie Messapica. The church is sombre and light from the outside, with an imposing access staircase; it represents, from an architectonic point of view, a building quite different from the other sacred ones of its time; this is due to its inner modesty, which makes it the transition link between the Baroque from Lecce, and the less fussy one of the nearby Martina Franca. The façade is decorated by side responds both on the upper and on the lower parts; its prevailing decorative element is represented by the rich ashlar portal, separated by the spandrel, and interrupted in its top part by a cornice with side overhangs. The church has a single nave, where the chapels with the bare stone, Baroque altars overlook, surmounted by altarpieces and medallions. Among these, the altar which preserves a painting depicting the Holy Mary between the saints Domenico di Guzman and Caterina da Siena is particularly noteworthy. The canvass fits in within a Baroque scenery which offers to the visitor the sight of twisted columns, finely embellished and decorated with golden coloured stuccos and a single cornice, consisting of fifteen small tondos, depicting events of the Stations of the Cross. Another richly decorated altar is the one which preserves the painting of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple of Jerusalem, with the statues of the saints Agostino and Alberto Magno, Doctors of Church, on the sides. The inlaid marble, central altar, with the door of the ciborium donated by Pietro Allegretti Cavallo in 1866, shows a remarkable workmanship. Behind it, there is the wooden choir, with a medieval lay-out; it is an outstanding example of the painstaking inlay work accomplished by the local workmen. Two wooden pulpits acts as its pendants; one of them is older and shorter, whereas the other one, sublime and solemn, is located above a confessional box, which presents rich decorations with phytomorphic motifs, and framed by twisted, small columns, surmounted by composite capitals, which remind of the ones of the side altars. On the central door, there is the 1776 L’ultima cena by Casale, characterized by the confident mark and by the airy colours; on the choir which towers over the marble high altar, just like in the Chiesa Madre in Grottaglie, a magnificent organ stands out, whose pastel green lacquered wooden parts, purfled with sequin gold, are awaiting the careful hand of a skilful restorer. In a distant niche, there is the statue of San Domenico di Guzman, to whom the church is named after. The church was dedicated to san Domenico by the Dominican friars in 1688, as he was the founder of their Order, and they did all they could to keep that name alive. The coat of arms of the Dominicans is placed in all the focal points. They expressed all their devotion to the great Founding Father in this church - full of statues of the saints of the Order- and in the adjacent convent, which in the past was the home of the Town Hall of Ceglie Messapica. In the vestry, towered by the bust of the duchess, ispreserved the sacellum of Isabella Noirot of Belgium, wife of the duke of Ceglie, Don Diego Lubrano; she died at a young age in 1641. |