St. Giustina and the Abbey Church, Padua

The Abbey of St. Giustina Padua honors the young Christian woman, Giustina (Justine), stabbed in the chest with a sword during the Christian persecutions of Diocletian around 303 AD.

The facade of the church is as plain as the parking lot that occupies the space in front of it. But the domes visible at the top hint at the elegance inside. Constructed nearly a century after Brunelleschi completed San Lorenzo in Florence, you can see the influence of the early 15th century Florentine. The aisles are neatly divided, and the simple walls are broken up by the darker bands of stone at the top and bottom of each capital. This beautiful stone continues around the church with the entablature.

You might expect the vaulting to imitate the dome of the Pantheon in Rome, and, although inspired by it, the ceilings display a pleasing variation of circles and squares.

The remains of St. Giustina lie below the altar. Other relics can be found throughout the church, including those of Luke the Evangelist.