Convento di San Domenico

The entrance to left of San Domenico leads to the large cloister (see below), with the vestiges of the facade of San Domenico Vecchio diagonally opposite.  The friars built the church and a small convent here soon after they arrived in Perugia in 1234.   The convent had a school of theology by 1260 and a fine library.  (The door at right angles to the facade of the ex-church originally housed the Oratorio di San Domenico).

Walking clockwise from this point, you come to the entrance to the original cloister, which has a loggia on three sides and abuts a conventual building on its fourth side.  You can only see the lower part of the loggia from here, but it is in fact built on two storeys.  The corridor along its south side leads to the ex-library (1475-81), which now houses the State Archives. 

The large cloister (1455-1589) is also arranged in two storeys and contains 40 travertine columns.   The well [date] at the centre that came from the Palazzo dei Priori.

The convent was used as a barracks in the Napoleonic period and again after perugia joined the kingdom of Italy in 1860.  The large cloister housed the cavalry, the Oratorio di San Domenico became a stables and San Domenico Vecchio was adapted as a two-storey dining room.  the complex saw further military use during the second World War.  It now houses the Museo Archeologico dell' Umbria.

Return to San Domenico.