Dominican Church

The Dominican order established itself in Bolzano/Bozen in 1272 and built a church with a single nave inside a vast convent which branches off into different chapels, some of which have been lying in ruins, and a beautiful cloister. A part of the ancient structure houses the Music Academy shich, indidentally, Hosts the prestigious international piano competition Ferruccio Busoni. Also present is the Stadtgalerie, an art gallery which holds different exhibitions and other important cultural Events. The church has gothic archways, as well as baroque elements from the 17th and 18th century (such as the altar piece of Guercino to the left of the Major altar, which was bought by the merchants of Bolzano). The church preserves prestigious examples of paintings from Bolzano from the 14th century which can be found on the oriental side of the coister and on the western wall of the Church, but the real artistic jewel of the building is the Chapel of St. John, the Long and narrow side chapel which holds the cycle of frescoes of those painters who took Giotto es their role model, the so called "School of Giotto". Of particular interest are those scenes from the life of St. Nicholas on the last part of the oriental qall, and the fresco of the "Triumph over death " in the firs part of the same wall, the flight from Egypt on the western wall and the torture of St. Bartholomew on the northern wall. The entire chapel, decorated with individual frescoes of various themes, is a splendid example of 14th century art as practised in the Region. In the nearby coister you can also admire some frescoes by Friedrich Pacher which go back as far as 496.