Basilica of San Domenico, Siena
Dominican builders · Siena, Italy · 1265
San Domenico is a large brick mendicant church set on the edge of Siena's historic center, with broad views across the valley toward the cathedral. Its severe exterior and high single-nave interior emphasize preaching space over elaborate structural display. Transept chapels, timber roof and carefully placed windows organize an austere volume enriched by works associated with Saint Catherine of Siena. The building's mass is particularly important in distant views, where it acts as a counterpoint to the cathedral and civic tower. Construction and reconstruction continued after the thirteenth-century founding, so the date records the early completed church rather than all visible fabric.