Iglesias, Church of San Domenico

The church, combined with a series of houses from ancient Iglesias, perfectly matches the height of the neighboring residences. Originally, the building was located on a connecting route between Porta Sant'Antonio to the North and the Ruga Mercatorum, now Via Azuni and a stretch of Via Martini. The volume of the building is closely linked to the surrounding residential fabric: in fact, the church is built on two lots. From the street, the axis of the building is visually related to the hill, the rear side faces Via Eleonora, the connecting axis with Fluminimaggiore. In ancient times, Via Cavallotti, once Via San Domenico, was one of the main arteries of the city and defined the physical border of the Castello district, the northern area of the medieval center, near Porta Sant'Antonio.
For a functional purpose for worship, since it was the only religious service in the Castello district since the arrival of the Dominicans in the 14th century, the connection between the church and the convent was made through an aerial passage with wooden beams. This made it possible to bypass the stream that then flowed through Via Eleonora. It was demolished for traffic reasons in the second half of the 19th century, about when the church became municipal property. In 1910, the chapels on the right side were added and, shortly after, the presbytery was demolished for the construction of a road. Today, the restoration interventions, in addition to having lowered the floor, have favored the aspect of consolidation and maintenance of the building.
There are no direct sources documenting the historical-constructive events of the church, but it is known that the building was built in the same place where the SS was previously located. Trinity mentioned by the Brief of Villa di Chiesa, legal statute of the medieval city. The main client of the change was the Cannavera family, mainly by two clergymen: Canon Michele Fenza and Nicolò Cannavera, bishop of Alghero from 1604 to 1611, to whom the street and the neighboring square are currently dedicated. In fact, in 1610, Canon Fenza offered a donation to the Dominicans to build a convent and a church to take care of the education of the less well-off children, who, according to legend, participated in the transport of materials during construction work, which is why the building is also known as “Cresia de is picciocheddus” (Children's Church). As for Bishop Cannavera, the fundamental role he played as client can still be read on the right side of the hall where the holy water fountain is located, engraved with his coat of arms and dated 1611, and two tombstones, one with his portrait, the other burial. Removed during the rearrangement of the floor, together with that of Canon Francesco Fontana now above the pile, today the tombstones hang along the wall. In the same way, on the left, is the ossuary plate, dated 1772, the work of Giovanni Pintus and Francesco Cogotti. The four marble slabs, although no longer in their original location, remain the visual factor that characterizes the building. The interior of the church, small in size, has a single nave plan with two chapels on each side, under the patronage of the trade corporations that financed the work. Those on the right side, added in 1910 by altering the rhythm of the four pointed arches, differ from the initial design of the building. The second chapel, dedicated to Santa Barbara by Gremio dei Minatori, stands out for having been carved out of the rock, which remains visible. Today it is dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. All the chapels are barrel-vaulted except for the second one on the left. Entitled first to Our Lady of Defense and then to Our Lady of Sorrows, it resumes, on a smaller scale, the dome vault with a lantern in the chapels of the Cathedral. Today, the lantern is blind due to the twentieth-century demolition of the presbyterial area, now raised above the aisle. On the façade of the church there is a portal, similar to the southern one of the Cagliari cathedral, framed by Corinthian columns and lintels on which the Cannavera coat of arms is engraved. The crenellated pediment encloses a three-lobed arch that contains the semicircular window, the building's main source of light. Two small rose windows appear on the sides of the portal.

Bibliography
Diocese of Iglesias, edited by G. Murtas, series “Churches and Sacred Art in Sardinia”, Cagliari, Zonza, 2001.