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The religious building was built where there were previously Arab warehouses, using the materials. It was one of the symbols of the newfound Christianity of the city, after almost a century of presence of the Muslim colony of Frederick. In fact, after the expulsion of the Saracens in 1300, Charles II of Anjou transformed the face of Lucera, building many churches, including that of San Francesco and the Cathedral. Thus begins the era of the Civitas Santae Mariae opposed to the Luceria Saracenorum that preceded it. The church and the adjoining convent since the fifteenth century were an important center of theological and artistic research.
Little remains of the original Gothic-Angevin architectural style today: the factory was modified according to the baroque taste in the second eighteenth century. To this period goes the beautiful facade characterized by a geometric game of shapes: a chessboard consists of 6 squares; of these the 4 sides are decorated with four large rhomboidal motifs with inscribed starry circles, the two central host portal and window.
The entrance portal has a carved architrave with the Virgin holding the Child, on the left San Domenico with book and torch in his hand and on the right Blessed Agostino Casotti and the coat of arms of the order. On the right of the facade is the Chapel of the Rosary, built at the end of the eighteenth century and the original dome roof, which earned the name of "Pantheon", was the mortuary chapel of the confreres of the Rosary. The oratory, built on the western side of the Church, today corresponding to the Chapel of San Giuseppe, was built at the beginning of 1500.
The interior has a single nave with 8 side chapels, which welcome precious altars.
The chapels on the left are headed to: San Pietro Martire, Nativity of Jesus Christ, San Vincenzo Ferreri, Blessed Agostino Casotti. The chapels on the right are instead headed to: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Rose of Lima, Saint Dominic, Virgin of the Rosary. Each chapel houses a canvas or an altarpiece dedicated to the holder of the same.
At the center of the abyss is the sumptuous high altar, rich in inlays and sculptures. But the most valuable element is the wooden choir of the master Fabrizio Iannulo from Monopoli: meticulously carved, presented on the 28 figures of Saints and Blesseds of the Dominican Order and in the center the statue of Christ tied to the Column. The panels are separated by 26 columns and 4 half columns on the two corners, all decorated with flowers and adorned with a frame formed by heads of putti and other decorations that support small tables in the shape of winged sphinxes.
