Abbey of Santa Giustina: St Luke's Tomb and the Cloisters

Santa Giustina's site is older than the church by a millennium and a half: the young Justina was martyred here on 7 October 304, buried in a Christian cemetery outside the Roman city, and a first basilica rose over her grave soon after 520. Benedictine monks settled at the abbey by 971, and for six centuries the monastery grew into one of the richest landowners in the Veneto, its library and scriptorium tied closely to the young university across the fields. The earthquake of 1117 — the same one that wrecked the cathedral — levelled that early basilica, sparing only the small Martyrs' chapel you can still enter today.

What you see now is the early-modern answer to that ambition: begun in the early sixteenth century and finished over the following hundred-odd years, a colossal Latin-cross church of pale stone columns and brick vaulting. The nave runs about 122 metres, the facade still waits for its marble skin, and the bell tower stands over the monastery roofs. Architecture guides count it among the fifteen or so largest churches in the Christian world, a ranking you feel rather than measure: entering from the Prato side, the columns simply keep arriving. The monastic community still prays the liturgy of the hours here, so visits share the building with bells, chant and — if you time it to Sunday 11:00 — a conventual Mass with the monks.

• 304: Justina is martyred under Maximian and buried at the site.
• After 520: the first basilica is built over her grave.
• 971: Bishop Gauslinus restores a Benedictine monastery under the Rule of St Benedict.
• 1117: the earthquake destroys the early basilica; the Martyrs' chapel survives.
• 1174 and 1177: the bodies of St Justina and St Luke the Evangelist are rediscovered.
• 16th-17th century: the present colossal church is built.

Walk the church in one long line: down the nave, into the transept, then behind the high altar. Everything that follows is free, and lighting is dim in the side spaces — your eyes need a minute to adjust.

The Chapel of St Luke and the relics of St Matthias

In the northern transept, the Chapel of St Luke holds the abbey's headline relic: the urn with the remains of the Evangelist, rediscovered here in 1177 and raised in a monumental marble setting. Tradition pairs the Evangelist's tomb with the body of the Apostle Matthias, chosen to replace Judas, whose relics rest in another chapel of the church — one of the very few apostolic tombs outside Rome. The chapels are quiet, signed, and usually empty even on busy days; candles and explanatory panels are at the entrance.

The choir, Veronese and the martyrs' corridor

Behind the high altar, the great wooden choir — the monks' stallwork, carved in the sixteenth century to designs associated with the Florentine monk Martino da Firenze — frames Paolo Veronese's monumental Martyrdom of Saint Justina, painted in the 1570s for the high altar and now placed so the community faces it at prayer. From the choir you reach the Corridoio dei Martiri, the corridor of martyrs, and the Sacello di San Prosdocimo: the tiny early-Christian chapel dedicated to Padua's first bishop, which survived the 1117 collapse and preserves the site's oldest masonry.

Visiting: hours, Masses, guided tours and the cloisters

Entry is free with no ticket system. Hours follow the liturgical calendar and change between summer and winter: as a working rule, mornings 07:30-12:00 and afternoons 15:00-19:00, with the afternoon close pushed to 20:00 in the warm months — always confirm on the abbey's site, which publishes monthly posters. The inner cloisters are normally closed to the public and are seen only on guided visits: the monastic community organises free guided tours for groups on request (form on the abbey site), while a lay volunteer is often present at the basilica entrance at posted times for individuals and small groups who want the choir, corridor and chapel explained.

What to see inside, at a glance

Use this checklist to order a half-hour visit so that the big names fall in the right sequence.