St. Anthony’s Church

In its current architectural guise, the church of St Anthony of Padua dates from the late 17th century (1697). But its origins are much older. First recorded in 1292, it was then dedicated not to St Anthony but to St Andrew, although its very first incarnation may well have been early Christian, given that the saint’s relics arrived in Aquileia in 383. By 1570, the building was in ruins. The current church is on a square plan, topped with a square tambour and lantern; to the east, there is a four-sided room with an altar to St Roche. The facade, with its mix of straight and curved lines, has four columns and culminates in a statute of Christ. The entrance is surmounted by a statue of St Anthony. The fine altarpiece embodies the story of the church’s two different dedications: below the figures of the Father and Mary, St Anthony is depicted presenting the child Jesus to the original patron saint, St Andrew.