Description
The Basilica of Santa Giustina is one of Padua's great churches, on the Prato della Valle, with a crossing covered by eight domes. At 118.5 meters long, it was the largest church of the Venetian state. For Paduans it is also the Benedictine abbey.
Outside, the unfinished facade is noticeable at once, in bare brick, with a large rose window. At the sides stand two Romanesque griffins, remains of the older facade. The north flank shows aisles, windows and rose windows, with terracotta and white stone.
Inside, the plan is a Latin cross. The crossing is covered by eight domes, and the largest, with its lantern, is almost 70 meters high. On top is a copper statue of Saint Justina, about five meters tall and facing the city. The floor is a geometric design of yellow, blue and red marbles.
On the high altar is the Martyrdom of Saint Justina by Paolo Veronese, from 1572. Christ in glory bursts onto the scene and the light falls on the martyr, while the executioners remain in shadow. The altar in front has inlays of marble, mother-of-pearl and semiprecious stones.
Behind the altar, the wooden choir in walnut, begun in 1555, has eighty-eight stalls carved with scenes from the Old Testament and the life of Christ. In the left transept is the ark of Saint Luke the Evangelist, from 1313, in marble and alabaster.
The sacellum of San Prosdocimo, from the sixth century, dates from the time of the first basilica. To the right of the presbytery is the chapel of the Pietà, a masterpiece by the Genoese sculptor Filippo Parodi, with a group that looks struck by a gust of wind.
The story begins at the place where Saint Justina, martyred in 304, was buried. In the sixth century the first basilica was built here, collapsing in the earthquake of 1117, and a great Benedictine monastery grew next to it.
The present church was begun in 1501 on marshy ground, "full of inner chasms". Different architects passed the baton, until in 1606 the basilica was consecrated. In Padua people still say "te si longo come la fabrica de Santa Giustina": you are as slow as the building site.
Under Napoleon the monks were driven out and more than three quarters of the artistic treasures took the road to France. To avert demolition, the bishop made the basilica a parish. The Benedictines returned in the twentieth century.
Don't miss
• Veronese's Martyrdom of Saint Justina.
• The wooden choir.
• The ark of Saint Luke.
• The chapel of the Pietà.
Did you know?
• The inner vaults of the crossing were added around 1605, on Scamozzi's advice, to make the acoustics perfect.
• The body of Saint Justina was placed under the high altar on 7 October 1627.
Outside, the unfinished facade is noticeable at once, in bare brick, with a large rose window. At the sides stand two Romanesque griffins, remains of the older facade. The north flank shows aisles, windows and rose windows, with terracotta and white stone.
Inside, the plan is a Latin cross. The crossing is covered by eight domes, and the largest, with its lantern, is almost 70 meters high. On top is a copper statue of Saint Justina, about five meters tall and facing the city. The floor is a geometric design of yellow, blue and red marbles.
On the high altar is the Martyrdom of Saint Justina by Paolo Veronese, from 1572. Christ in glory bursts onto the scene and the light falls on the martyr, while the executioners remain in shadow. The altar in front has inlays of marble, mother-of-pearl and semiprecious stones.
Behind the altar, the wooden choir in walnut, begun in 1555, has eighty-eight stalls carved with scenes from the Old Testament and the life of Christ. In the left transept is the ark of Saint Luke the Evangelist, from 1313, in marble and alabaster.
The sacellum of San Prosdocimo, from the sixth century, dates from the time of the first basilica. To the right of the presbytery is the chapel of the Pietà, a masterpiece by the Genoese sculptor Filippo Parodi, with a group that looks struck by a gust of wind.
The story begins at the place where Saint Justina, martyred in 304, was buried. In the sixth century the first basilica was built here, collapsing in the earthquake of 1117, and a great Benedictine monastery grew next to it.
The present church was begun in 1501 on marshy ground, "full of inner chasms". Different architects passed the baton, until in 1606 the basilica was consecrated. In Padua people still say "te si longo come la fabrica de Santa Giustina": you are as slow as the building site.
Under Napoleon the monks were driven out and more than three quarters of the artistic treasures took the road to France. To avert demolition, the bishop made the basilica a parish. The Benedictines returned in the twentieth century.
Don't miss
• Veronese's Martyrdom of Saint Justina.
• The wooden choir.
• The ark of Saint Luke.
• The chapel of the Pietà.
Did you know?
• The inner vaults of the crossing were added around 1605, on Scamozzi's advice, to make the acoustics perfect.
• The body of Saint Justina was placed under the high altar on 7 October 1627.