Padova: Santa Giustina

Big, bigger, Santa Giustina. This enormous basilica on the southern edge of Padova’s historical centre will make a lasting impression on just about every visitor. The church adjoins the Prato della Valle, a large piazza in the shape of an ellipse where in Antiquity the theatre of Roman Patavium must…

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Padova: Scuola del Santo

The Scuola del Santo (also known as the Scoletta, ‘little school’) is the seat of the Archconfraternity of Saint Antonius of Padova. Saint Antonius (or Anthony) died in 1231, and according to tradition the confraternity was founded a couple of years after he was canonised in 1232. The first written…

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Padova: The Duomo

The formal name of Padova’s Duomo is the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. In an older post I called the Duomo “a bit of a disappointment”. Having revisited the building in July of 2022, I still stand by that judgment. Fact is, the Duomo is just a bit boring. The…

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Padova: Eremitani Museums

I like to consider myself somewhat of a museum tiger. I can spend hours in succession exploring the collections of the largest museums in the world. But Padova’s Musei Civici or Eremitani Museums were just too much for me. They are anything but boring, but simply too large to visit…

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Padova: Il Santo

The church of Sant’Antonio di Padova, known as Il Santo to locals, is not just any church. It is in fact the second most important church of the Order of the Franciscans, after the Papal Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. It is huge, but not as large as the…

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Padova: Eremitani

I can only describe the church of the Eremitani in Padova as a pleasant surprise. We still had about an hour to go before we could visit the famous Cappella degli Scrovegni, so we decided to pop in here and have a look. Our expectations were quite low, as the…

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