The Abbey of Santa Giustina stands in front of the Prato della Valle in central Padua. A church to Saint Justina and other martyrs existed by the 520s, and the basilica was first built in the sixth century. The abbey dates from the tenth century, and in 971 the bishop of Padua placed its community under the Rule of St. Benedict.
The present building comes from a seventeenth-century reconstruction. It has a Latin cross plan and measures 389 feet (118.5 meters) long and 269 feet (82 meters) wide, making it the seventh largest church in Italy. Twenty-six pillars support eight lead-covered domes, and Veronese's Martyrdom of Saint Justine, painted in 1576, hangs over the high altar.
The church holds the tomb of Saint Justina and the relics of Saint Matthias and Saint Prosdocimus. It was sacked in 1110 and shaken by an earthquake in 1117. The community was suppressed in 1797 and restored in 1917.
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