Official Information
Official website: https://www.santantonio.org/en
Official tickets: On site only
Address: Piazza del Santo 11, 35123 Padova PD, Italy
View on Google Maps: Basilica di San Antonio on Google Maps
Opening Hours
Museum sites of the Basilica di Sant’Antonio complex (Anthonian Museum, Museum of Popular Devotion, Oratory of St George, and the Scoletta) are usually open Tuesday to Sunday from 09:00 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 18:00. Closed Mondays, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. Schedules may change for liturgical events so always confirm current times on the official website.
The Basilica of Saint Anthony in Padua, also called “Il Santo,” is one of the most visited pilgrimage shrines in Italy and a highlight for all visitors to the city. The basilica itself blends Romanesque, Gothic, and Byzantine architectural elements, creating a distinctive profile with domes and spires. Inside, chapels line the nave and transepts, with the Chapel of the Ark displaying the tomb and relics of St Anthony and a remarkable ensemble of marble reliefs and ex-voto offerings.
The basilica complex includes a series of peaceful cloisters, as well as several museum spaces. The Anthonian Museum houses sculptures, paintings, sacred furnishings, textiles, and reliquaries associated with the basilica and local lay brotherhoods, and features work by artists working in Padua from the Middle Ages onwards. Notably, items link to Donatello’s outstanding bronze work for the high altar. The Museum of Popular Devotion displays a moving collection of painted votive panels and personal objects left by pilgrims thankful for perceived miracles, offering insight into everyday faith and the long history of devotion at the site.
In the adjoining piazza, the Oratory of St George and the Scoletta preserve major 14th-century fresco cycles by Altichiero and others, regarded among northern Italy’s greatest examples of late medieval painting outside Padua’s Scrovegni Chapel. A single “biglietto unico” covers all of these museum sites, and tickets are sold on site (no online ticketing; group bookings by request through the basilica office). Modest dress is required, as this is an active place of worship, and visitor volume increases on feast days. Allow at least 90 minutes to fully explore the museums and oratories, not counting time in the main basilica.
The basilica sits in a lively neighborhood filled with cafés and shops frequented by pilgrims and university students, making it a great area to spend extra time before or after your visit.