The Monastery of San Domenico in Pietracuta manus et mens acuta "Della rocca o del castello di Pietracuta non restano oggi che pochi avanzi, ma tali da sembrare, anche per la tinta del tempo, un tutto con il macigno che li sorregge, quasi fossero scolpiti nel vivo da mani ciclopiche". G. Pecci The monastery of San Domenico di Pietracuta (San Leo) , formerly "Castello della Provincia di Montefeltro nello Stato e Legazione di Urbino," was founded in 1655, thanks to a donation of Giovanni Sinibaldi, a native of Pietracuta and an inhabitant of Rimini, who, very devoted to Dominican doctrine, provided in his will for the construction of San Domenico and its monastery. The church was completed in 1623, as one learns from the marble inscription which adorns the façade: HOC TEMPLUM DIVO DOMINICO DICATUM ANNO DOMINI MDCXXIII ("this temple is dedicated to Saint Dominic in the year of grace 1623"). On the day of the founding of the monastery, a superior was established with the title of vicar and this remained so until the edification was completed, i.e., until the monastery was declared in 1678 a priory and a Prior was appointed. The simplicity of some of the remaining ruins recalls the architecture of the ducal palace of Urbino. The monastery is, in its essential lines and in the singular fashioning of the cloister and lodge, in the style of the Renaissance. The exterior is constituted by a facade of bricks, traversed by marble cordons in stone from Istrie, i.e., in marble which comes directly from Dalmatia. As to the interior of the church and what remains of the monastery, they are baroque, as can be seen especially from the stucco which adorns the vaults. The original steeple collapsed in 1928 and was replaced by the one which exists today, which is in wrought iron. In the same period, the north-west wing of the building also collapsed. The monastery became the seat of the parish of S. Pietro di Pietracuta at the beginning of 1800. According to documents left by the Dominican fathers who lived there until the Napoleonic period, i.e., until about 1812, this was one of the richest monasteries. To believe the stories which have come down to us, it seems that it was filled with pictures and precious marbles, and that the corridors were veritable art galleries, the rooms themselves being decorated marvelously and containing rose-window ceilings and stone chimneys. Also conserved through the centuries at San Domenico is a precious crucifix made by Giuliano da Rimini, one of the greatest painters of the school of Giotto of Rimini. A massive architectural renovation, to be completed in three years, will restore the monastery of San Domenico to its original aspect, at which point it will become the legal and operating seat of the Pharos Center for Study and Research.