Abbey of Santa Giustina

Lots of history associated with this church. Originally constructed for the monastery of the same name, it houses the remains of St. Luke and St. Giustina who was a young Christian girl from Padua who was martyred during the persecution of Christians during the reign of the emperor Diocletion in 304 AD. It also housed the remains of St. Prosdocimus, a Greek who became the first bishop of Padua and has for centuries been part of a pilgrimage route. Galileo also lived here for a time and his work and ideas were defended by the monks. The first woman to ever graduate from the University of Padua in 1678, Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia is interred here as well.  Much of the art in the church was produced by Venetian artists as Padua was part of the Venetian Republic.