Italy Travel And Hotel Guide

To the left as you leave the basilica are the Oratorio di San Giorgio and Scoletta del Santo . The oratory (daily: April-Sept 9am-12.30pm & 2.30-7pm; Oct-March 9am-12.30pm & 2.30-5pm; L3000/¬1.55) was founded in 1377 as a mortuary chapel, and its frescoes by Altichiero di Zevio and Jacopo Avanzi were completed soon after. One surround is adorned by the wonderfully titled St Lucy Remains Immoveable at an Attempt to Drag Her with the Help of Oxen to a House of Ill Repute .The Scoletta (same hours as above; L3000/¬1.55) was founded soon after Anthony’s canonization, though this building only goes back as far as the primeval fifteenth century. The ground floor is still used for religious purposes, while upstairs is maintained to look pretty much as it would have in the sixteenth century, with its fine ceiling and paintings dating mainly from 1509-15. Four of the pictures are said to be by Titian.

Next door to the Scuola, the Museo al Santo is used for one-off exhibitions, often drawing on the resources of the Musei Civici.

One way to relax from all this art is to stroll round the corner to the Orto Botanico , the oldest botanic gardens in Europe (summer regular 9am-1pm & 3-6pm; winter Mon-Sat 9am-1pm; L5000/¬2.58). Planted in 1545 by the university’s medical power as a collection of medicinal herbs, the gardens are ordered out much as they were originally, and the specimens on show haven’t changed too much either. Goethe came here in 1786 to see a palm tree that had been planted in 1585; the selfsame tree still stands.

Tags: basilica, oratorio di san giorgio, oratory