Abbey of Santa Giustina

About

The Abbey of Santa Giustina is a 10th-century Benedictine abbey complex located in front of the Prato della Valle in central Padua, region of Veneto, Italy. Adjacent to the former monastery is the basilica church of Santa Giustina, initially built in the 6th century, but whose present form derives from a 17th-century reconstruction.

A church dedicated to Saint Justina of Padua and other 4th-century Christian martyrs of Padua, was present at the site by the 520s, erected under the patronage of the Prefect Opilius and housing the relics of the saint. The church was already described as lavish in decoration in the 565 biography "Life of St Martin ", written by Venantius Fortunatus. By the 10th century, monks ministered to pilgrims who came to the basilica to venerate the saints' relics. In 971, the Bishop of Padua placed the community under the Rule of St. Benedict.

Renovations were soon begun on the basilica. On 2 August 1052, workers putatively exhumed remains of various saints, including Maximus the Confessor, Felicitas of Padua, Julian the Hospitaller, and even some identified as the Holy Innocents. In 1110 the abbey was sacked by the troops of the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V during his invasion of Lombardy, in order to punish the monks for their loyalty to Pope Pascal II. In 1117, the complex was devastated by the powerful Verona earthquake. After the basilica and monastery were rebuilt, excavations resumed and in 1174 the remains of the patroness of the abbey were discovered, and in 1177, some remains attributed to St Luke the Evangelist.

A period of decline in the observance of its way of life began to develop in the monastic community. At the same time, the monks were led by a number of very spiritual abbots, such as Arnaldo of Limena, who died while imprisoned by Ezzelino III da Romano and is honored as " Blessed ", as is Nicholas of Prussia. By the 1370s the community had declined to three monks.

The abbey, however, reached the height of its influence under the leadership of Ludovico Barbo, who, despite being a canon regular and not a monk, was appointed as abbot by the bishop in order to undertake a reform of the monastic life in the abbey. He was successful and the abbey became the nucleus of the Congregation of Santa Giustina, which spread to include monasteries throughout Europe who came under the guidance of the Abbot of Santa Giustina. The abbey developed ties with centers of learning across the continent. In 1504 the Abbey of Monte Cassino was made subject to Santa Giustina in Padua, and together they became known as the Cassinese Congregation.

The religious community was suppressed in 1797 when, after the occupation of the region by Napoleon's French Revolutionary Army. Its artworks and the most valuable collections of the abbatial library were sent to Paris by the occupying forces. The monks were expelled and the buildings and property were sold off in 1810. The cloisters were then used as a military hospital, later as a barracks.

The buildings were returned to the Catholic Church in 1917 and Pope Benedict XV re-established the abbey with all its ancient rights and privileges. He placed it under the Abbey of Praglia in nearby Teolo, which sent monks to resume monastic life there. On 1 November 1942 the community was declared an autonomous priory, which was established under its own abbot on 22 January 1943. The basilica and abbey now have the government status of a national monument and operate under the authority of the Superintendent of Monuments and Civil Heritage.

The church has a layout of a Latin cross with the main axis from east to west. At 118.5 metres (389 ft) long and 82 metres (269 ft) wide, the Basilica of Santa Giustina is the seventh largest in Italy. The facade is enhanced by expanse of the Prato della Valle, which it overlooks. There are three main chapels. The presbytery with the choir, and the two chapels for saints Luke and Matthew that form the transepts. Each has a semicircular apse and are flanked by two chapels. Each aisle has six smaller chapels, square plan. The 26 pillars supporting the roof domes, each dome is set directly on the barrel vaults. The central bays are covered by eight domes covered with lead: the central one, with the lantern, is almost 70 metres (230 ft) high and is topped by a statue of copper depicting Santa Giustina, about 5 metres (16 ft) high. The floor of the basilica was laid between 1608 and 1615 on geometric design, with yellow, white and red marble. There are many pieces of Greek marble, from the Basilica Opilionea. [ citation needed ]

Capella di San Giacomo The first chapel is dedicated to Saint James the Less. The altar is in polychrome stones in the style of the Corbarelli family of the seventeenth century. The white marble altarpiece shows an oil on canvas by Carlo Caliari : Martyrdom of Saint James.

Capella di San Gregorio Magno The second chapel is dedicated to Pope Gregory I. The 19th-century altar is mainly built with African green marble and Carrara white marble, framing a polychrome stone marquetry; The stonework was performed by the Corbarelli family. The altarpiece is an 18th-century oil on canvas depicting Pope Gregory I invokes the aid of the Virgin to end the plague in Rome by Sebastiano Ricci. Ricci's work replaced an initial painting by Carlo Cignani.

Cappella di san Daniele Levita The third chapel is dedicated to Daniel of Padua. The altar is characterized by the use of red marble from France and the marbles of Carrara and Padua; the altarpiece depicts the Martyrdom of St Daniel (1677) by Antonio Zanchi. The altar is the work of the brothers Corbarelli.

Cappella di san Placido The fourth chapel is dedicated to St. Placid the Martyr. The oil on canvas altarpiece depicts the Martyrdom of Saint Placidus and companions (1676) by Luca Giordano. Note the refined decoration of the Corbarelli family inlaid with polychrome stone behind the altar.

Martyrdom of Saint Placidus and companions by Giordano

Cappella di San Mauro The fifth chapel is dedicated to Saint Maurus. The altarpiece is in black and white marble from Genoa; The altar of green marble, marble of Genoa, and red marble of France. The altarpiece representing "Saint Maurus invoked by the sick" (1673) by Valentin Le Febvre.

Cappella di Giuliano martire The sixth chapel is dedicated to Saint Julien. The altar contains the tomb of Saint Julien with his statue (1680) sculpted by Giovanni Comin. The statues of Saints Andrew and Matthew were sculpted by Bernardo Falcone.

Cappella di Santa Felicita The seventh and last chapel on the left side of the nave is dedicated to Saint Felicity. The chapel houses the monumental altar surmounted by the urn containing the remains of the saint, discovered in 1502 in the Chapel of Saint Prosdocime of Padua. The sculptures are by Orazio Marinali and plays on the colors of white and red marble from France. The statue of the saint in prayer is placed on the urn, on the sides two angels and Saints Mark and Simon. The altar is very refined, decorated by brothers Corbarelli: it represents fountains, gardens and the unfinished façade of the basilica.

"Saint Maurus invoked by the sick" by Valentin Le Febre

Cappella di San Luca The large chapel was reorganized for the liturgical adaptations implemented in the years of the Second Vatican Council. In the center, a 1313 monument that houses the relics of St. Luke the Evangelist, commissioned by the Abbot Gualpertino Mussato and originally erected in the Gothic chapel in 1562. The monument is made of serpentine and marble of Verona. It is enriched with eight alabaster panels carved in bas-relief depicting angels and symbols related to the saint. The whole rests on two granite columns, two alabaster spiral columns and the center is placed on a support in Greek marble, representing caryatid angels, supporting the whole. The 16th-century altar, today displaced, served as a base for the monument. A modern wooden choir surrounds the altar. At the top is placed the sixteenth-century version – attributed to Alessandro Bonvicino – of the Virgin Salus Populi Patavini Constantinople. It is framed and supported by the bronze angels of Hamlet Sartori (1960–1961). The Byzantine icon of origin, according to tradition, painted by Saint Luke and brought to Padua to save from the iconoclastic fury of Constantinople, is now in a sanctuary in the monastery.

Capella Beato Arnaldo da Limena The chapel is dedicated to Blessed Arnaud Cataneo ( Arnaldo da Limena ). The altar was erected in 1681: Bernardo Falcone sculpted the angels and the statue placed above the urn that houses the relics of Blessed Arnaud. The lateral statues of Saints Peter and St Paul are works of Orazio Marinali and Michele Fabris. The work of marquetry of polychrome stones of the altar is the work of the Corbarelli family.

Altar and Reliquary of St. Luke the Evangelist