St. Augustine Church, Taranto

Located in the small Sant'Agostino alley near the La Riccia slope, the church of Sant'Agostino has an 18th-century facade with a very simple structure, recalling the Rococo style.

Two pilasters surmounted punctuate the façade, in the first order by composite capitals and in the second order by Ionic capitals ruined by time. It is not easy to reconstruct the history and date of construction of this complex because of the paucity of documents that have come down to us, however, it is presumed to have been built around 1402, the date of settlement of the Augustinian fathers in Taranto.

The interior, with a single nave, has a rectangular presbytery separated from the nave by a triumphal arch; the walls are punctuated by composite pilasters surmounted by a very prominent cornice above which there are five large windows on each side; the ceiling, flat, was rebuilt after damage sustained during World War II; a plaque at the entrance commemorates the reopening of the church after 29 years of closure, in 1956, by Monsignor Bernardi.

The inner hall has three chapels on each side. The first on the right, now dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua as the seat that housed the Royal Confraternity of St. Anthony of Padua from 1809 to 2009, was once dedicated to St. Mary of Grace. The second chapel features a beautiful crucifix of the Spirant Christ and was built by the Calò family.

The third chapel housed the statue of Our Lady of Peace, titular of the confraternity of the same name.

On the opposite side are other chapels. The first is dedicated to St. Nicholas of Tolentino where the Confraternity of St. Nicholas of Tolentino and Sacred Belt functions, but which in the past was dedicated to Our Lady of the Belt, and finally there is the altar of suffrage or the Sacred Heart of Jesus where there is a splendid work in Lecce papier-mâché by Guacci depicting Jesus and the souls in Purgatory.

The church has the honor of hosting the burial of Thomas Nicholas Aquinas.

The facility can only be visited on Sunday mornings, when it opens for church services.

On July 1, 2010, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Taranto, Archbishop Luigi Benigno Papa, by decree appointing a new Rector, wanted to reopen St. Augustine's Church while maintaining its status as a Rectory. With the appointment of the new Rector, Fr. Désiré Mpanda Kazadi, the church reopened on August 28, 2010, the day of the liturgical memory of St. Augustine.