| Abbey of Saint Justina | |
| Native Name: | Abbazia di Santa Giustina |
| Native Name Lang: | it |
| Order: | Order of St. Benedict |
| Established: | 10th century |
| Dedication: | Saint Justina of Padua |
| Diocese: | Padua |
| Abbot: | Francesco Trolese, O.S.B. |
| Heritage Designation: | National monument |
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,[1] 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.[2]
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.[3]
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 coomunity had declined to three monks.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6]
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 118.5m (388.8feet) long and 82m (269feet) 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 70m (230feet) high and is topped by a statue of copper depicting Santa Giustina, about 5m (16feet) 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.
On the large wall on the right, there is a large canvas by Antonio Balestra (1718) depicting the martyrdom of Saints Cosmas and Damian. Opposite, on the left wall, The Great Massacre of the Innocents by Sebastiano Galvano, signed by the mid-sixteenth century. Initially this work was in the church of San Benedetto Novello.
The altar is a work made in several times in the forties of the seventeenth century. The design is by Lorenzo Bedogni by Pietro Paolo Corbarelli and their sons Simone, Antonio and Francesco around 1656. It was completed in 1674 by Giuseppe Sardi and Josse the Court who fashioned the two angels worshipers while the bronze statues on the Tabernacle were cast Carlo Trabucco (1697). The other sculptures are by Michele and Alessandro Fabris Tremignon.
It is elevated in relation to the rest of the building and is accessible by a monumental staircase. Below is a large crypt, now a winter chapel. The balustrades are the work of Francesco Contini (1630). On the sides, at the top, niches inside, two busts that ideally represent the two Roman patricians Vitaliano (right) and Opilione (left) works of Giovanni Francesco de Surdis of 1561.
Decorated with "Florentine" combining fine inlays of marble on which are placed pieces of mother-of-pearl, coral, lapis lazuli, carnelian, pearls and other precious materials. The delicate work was carried out between 1637 and 1643 by Pietro Paolo Corbarelli designed by Giovan Battista Nigetti, brother of the famous Matteo Nigetti. On 7 October 1627, with great pomp, the body of Saint Justine was placed under the altar.The painting of the altarpiece The martyrdom of Saint Justine by Paolo Veronese oil on canvas from 1576.
The chapel is the work of Genoese artist Filippo Parodi in 1689. The artist took charge of the architectural, decorative and sculptural design including the ceiling, adorned by an angelic stucco crowd. In the center is the Pietà, surrounded by two statues of Mary Magdalene and John the Apostle.
It is accessible from the right transept. Built in 1564 on the ruins of the ancient abbey church of the Middle Ages, it was designed to allow passage to the Sanctuary of St. Prosdocime of Padua. The corridor, painted in the 16th and 17th centuries, is counter-vaulted and, in the middle, an octagonal space covered by a dome decorated with fresco by Giacomo Ceruti. In the center there is the Well of the Martyrs: built on the orders of the abbot Angelo Sangrino in 1565 above the medieval well (still visible in the basement) which was in the middle of the nave of the original basilica. The octagonal marble of Verona marble and alabaster, is finely worked. A grid allows to see at the bottom the bones of the martyrs of the Diocletian era discovered here in 1269 by Blessed Giacoma. In the west corner a piece of the mosaic decoration that adorned the floor of the opilionea basilica of the sixth century is still visible. At the bottom an altar of the sixteenth century on a painting by Pietro Damini The discovery of the Well of the Martyrs and the miraculous power of the twelve candle count among the best works of the artist. Also visible is a large iron cage, dating back to the Middle Ages, which contained the remains of Saint Luke. The two statues of saints Peter and Paul are the work of Francesco Segala.
Following the corridor of the Martyrs is the sanctuary of Prosdocimus of Padua or Sanctuary of Santa Maria. One of the oldest buildings in Veneto: dated from the 6th century. It is the only preserved vestige of the opilionea basilica. Originally it was a chapel dedicated to the preservation of relics. The space is conceived on the plane of the Greek cross and is characterized by a very elegant awning composed of dome all painted in grotesque in the sixteenth century to replace the original mosaic decoration. It was the burial place of the first bishops of Padua, including the first, St Prosdocime of Padua, whose body rests in the altar of 1564. It consists of a Roman sarcophagus placed on the right (in relation to the " apse). Above the altar is a bas-relief depicting St Prosdocime of Padua in the Roman aristocrat's dating from the 5th century. In front of the apse a pergola, in Greek marble, astonishing work of the sixth century practically intact preserved in the initial position of Iconostase Along the wall of the small entrance hall, remains of frescoes from the twelfth century, decorations from the 16th century. The tympanum of the door of the basilica opilionea of the sixth century.