Basilica di Sant'Antonio, Padua

The Basilica di Sant'Antonio, known to Padovans simply as 'Il Santo', is one of Italy's most important pilgrimage churches and the spiritual centre of Padua, drawing millions of pilgrims and visitors each year to venerate the tomb of St. Anthony of Padua, who died in 1231. Begun shortly after his death and built over the following decades, the basilica is an extraordinary architectural blend: a Latin-cross plan with a Gothic body, a Romanesque facade, and a crown of eight Byzantine-style domes flanked by slender minaret-like bell towers, an exterior unlike any other in the Veneto. Inside, visitors move through a richly decorated nave to the Cappella dell'Arca, where the saint's tomb is surrounded by marble reliefs and walls thick with handwritten ex-voto thanks, and to the relic chapel (Cappella delle Reliquie) displaying St. Anthony's preserved tongue and jaw. The high altar carries Donatello's celebrated bronze sculptures and reliefs from the 1440s, masterpieces of Renaissance bronze-casting, while the frescoed chapels and the peaceful cloisters reward slower exploration. A visit typically takes one to one-and-a-half hours, longer for pilgrims. In the piazza outside stands Donatello's bronze equestrian statue of the condottiere Gattamelata, the first large-scale bronze equestrian monument cast since antiquity and a landmark of Renaissance sculpture in its own right. Entry to the basilica is free; a modest fee covers the museum and exhibition spaces. As a working place of worship, modest dress is required, with shoulders and knees covered, and photography is restricted near the tomb and during services. Mornings on weekdays are calmest, while the feast of St. Anthony on 13 June brings huge crowds and processions. Set just south of central Padua in Italy's Veneto region, the basilica sits a short walk from the vast Prato della Valle square.