The Church and Convent of Saint Dominic (Chiesa e Convento di San Domenico) is a Roman Catholic church located in the city of Turin. Throughout its history it has served as a church, as inquisition tribunal, and as a masonic lodge.
The church was built during the first half of the 13th century by Dominican friars, in gothic style. The adjacent convent was built in 1260 by Father John of Turin, who also established a library within the complex, thus making Saint Dominic, at the time, one of the cultural centers of the city. Shortly afterwards, towards the end of the 13th century, Saint Dominic became the seat of the Inquisition Tribunal of Turin, sentencing approximately 80 heretics to capital punishment throughout its existence.
The façade of the building was erected in 1334, and the bell tower in 1451. During the Black Death epidemic of Turin occurring in 1630, a steel grate was placed on the entrance of the church as to allow churchgoers to attend mass without entering the building itself. During the Napoleonic period, most of the relics and precious materials in the church went missing, and the building became the seat of a Masonic lodge. It is currently the only surviving gothic building in the city.
References:The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.