Description
The Cathedral of Padua, the basilica-cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, is the city's main church and the seat of the bishop since at least the fourth century. It stands in Piazza Duomo, next to the bishop's palace and the Baptistery, and its presbytery comes from a design by Michelangelo.
The present building dates from the sixteenth century, and has three naves in a Latin-cross plan. Outside, the unfinished facade stands out, with three portals and a rose window opened after a restoration. Inside the space is measured and harmonious, with two large domes, the larger one over the transept.
In the chapel of the Madonna dei Miracoli there is a Byzantine-style painting believed for centuries to be by Giotto, but older. On the right side is the monument of Cardinal Francesco Zabarella, with the polychrome gisant beneath a Gothic arcosolium.
In the left nave is the wooden pulpit by Filippo Parodi, carved by him with all its figures. The presbytery has a modern Carrara marble altar by Giuliano Vangi, with ambo and cathedra, which has divided opinion.
Beneath the presbytery, the crypt holds the body of Saint Daniel the martyr in a Roman urn. In the canons' sacristy are the portrait of Francesco Petrarca and a picture gallery born from the canons' bequests.
Next to the cathedral, the twelfth-century Baptistery is also the mausoleum of the Carraresi. The frescoes of 1375-1376, a masterpiece by Giusto de' Menabuoi, decorate the interior.
The facade has remained like this for a reason. In 1522 the bishop wanted to rebuild the old cathedral on the model of the choir of Saint Peter's in Rome. The works lasted two centuries and the new church was consecrated in 1754.
On 2 January 1551 the canons approved Michelangelo's model for the presbytery, preferred to Jacopo Sansovino's. His successors carried it out with quite a few changes. The Roman-style atrium and loggia planned for the facade were never built, and a bomb of the First World War brought down its upper part.
The chapter of canons was among the richest and noblest in Italy: its members were called "cardinals of Lombardy" and three popes came from here, Eugene IV, Paul II and Alexander VIII. In 1349 Francesco Petrarca joined it, thus gaining a house and an income in the city.
Don't miss
• The Baptistery.
• The Madonna dei Miracoli.
• Parodi's pulpit.
• Vangi's presbytery.
Did you know?
• Petrarch's house as a canon can still be seen, at number 28 Via Dietro Duomo.
• The chapel of the Madonna of the blind is next to a door: there the blind knew they would find the way out.
• The cathedral's music chapel, established at the end of the thirteenth century, counted Marchetto da Padova and Johannes Ciconia among its composers.
The present building dates from the sixteenth century, and has three naves in a Latin-cross plan. Outside, the unfinished facade stands out, with three portals and a rose window opened after a restoration. Inside the space is measured and harmonious, with two large domes, the larger one over the transept.
In the chapel of the Madonna dei Miracoli there is a Byzantine-style painting believed for centuries to be by Giotto, but older. On the right side is the monument of Cardinal Francesco Zabarella, with the polychrome gisant beneath a Gothic arcosolium.
In the left nave is the wooden pulpit by Filippo Parodi, carved by him with all its figures. The presbytery has a modern Carrara marble altar by Giuliano Vangi, with ambo and cathedra, which has divided opinion.
Beneath the presbytery, the crypt holds the body of Saint Daniel the martyr in a Roman urn. In the canons' sacristy are the portrait of Francesco Petrarca and a picture gallery born from the canons' bequests.
Next to the cathedral, the twelfth-century Baptistery is also the mausoleum of the Carraresi. The frescoes of 1375-1376, a masterpiece by Giusto de' Menabuoi, decorate the interior.
The facade has remained like this for a reason. In 1522 the bishop wanted to rebuild the old cathedral on the model of the choir of Saint Peter's in Rome. The works lasted two centuries and the new church was consecrated in 1754.
On 2 January 1551 the canons approved Michelangelo's model for the presbytery, preferred to Jacopo Sansovino's. His successors carried it out with quite a few changes. The Roman-style atrium and loggia planned for the facade were never built, and a bomb of the First World War brought down its upper part.
The chapter of canons was among the richest and noblest in Italy: its members were called "cardinals of Lombardy" and three popes came from here, Eugene IV, Paul II and Alexander VIII. In 1349 Francesco Petrarca joined it, thus gaining a house and an income in the city.
Don't miss
• The Baptistery.
• The Madonna dei Miracoli.
• Parodi's pulpit.
• Vangi's presbytery.
Did you know?
• Petrarch's house as a canon can still be seen, at number 28 Via Dietro Duomo.
• The chapel of the Madonna of the blind is next to a door: there the blind knew they would find the way out.
• The cathedral's music chapel, established at the end of the thirteenth century, counted Marchetto da Padova and Johannes Ciconia among its composers.