In the heart of the old town of Taranto, the Island where the first Spartan settlers arrived in 706 BC, stands the former Convent of St. Dominic Major, built in the 14th century AD and today home to the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Puglia. Inside the convent cloister, renovated between the 17th and 18th centuries and marked by a series of arches supported by columns with angular leaf capitals, extends a large archaeological area inhabited since prehistoric times. It is thus possible to observe the foundation structures of a temple built on the acropolis of the Greek colony of Taranto in the 6th century BC and the remains of the temple cell. Two inscribed architrave fragments, reused in the Gothic façade of the convent, document the Roman occupation of the site.
Information about the Cloister of the Former Convent of San Domenico
Via Duomo
74100 Taranto (Taranto)
0994713511
sabp-le@beniculturali.it
Source: MIBACT
