BASILICA SAN DOMENICO

This grandiose building, in a stripped Gothic style, was built in several phases from 1300 to 1458, and then redesigned and restored in the 17th century by the Baroque architect Carlo Maderno. Worth seeing is the three-nave interior, as vast as it is austere and solemn, with the altar of the Rosary (by Agostino di Duccio), the 18th century organs and the tomb of Pope Benedict XI, who died in 1304 (a legend says that he was poisoned by figs sent by King William of Nogaret, but this story has never been verified). The apse is illuminated by a huge window with decorated stained glass. The basilica preserves statues and prestigious works by local artists. Among these, the carved wooden choir is particularly noteworthy.

The bell tower, erected by Gasperino di Antonio in the 15th century, has two orders of large Gothic windows, once adorned with marble guipure. It dominates the town and is a distinctive sign of Perugia.

In the architectural complex of San Domenico, the two cloisters and the convent now house the State Archives and the National Archaeological Museum of Umbria.

A new museum adjacent to the sacristy, dedicated to Pope Benedict XI, the second pope of the Dominican order and beatified on 24 April 1736 by Pope Clement XII, was opened in 2019. Born in 1240 in Treviso, Nicholas Boccasini was elected Pope under the name of Benedict XI and was the 194th Pope of the Catholic Church from 1303 to 1304. After spending a few months in Rome, he decided to settle in Perugia.