Medieval parish church (Pieve) of S. Giustina and the new parish church
The medieval parish church (Pieve) of S. Giustina was the parish church of the town of Montegalda until 1950, when the new church was consecrated.
The Pieve is located on a small hill in front of Grimani Sorlini Castle on a strip of land crossed by a number of major travel routes: the Bacchiglione river, the Strada Pelosa and the Roman road known as the "Gallica", approximately corresponding to the SR 11 road, known as the Padana Superiore. The Pieve is in the territory of Vicenza but it has always been a part of the diocese of Padua.
With the spread of Christianity, the word "pieve", from the Latin plebs – or “people” – identified a political subdivision defined as a group of the faithful around a main church. The "pieve", also known as "mother church", had a baptistery and special liturgical functions. Smaller churches and chapels without baptistery were under the authority of a pieve. Those of Creola, Trambacche, Cervarese Santa Croce, Santa Maria di Veggiano, Veggiano, Montegaldella, Grisignano and Barbano were under the authority of the Pieve of Santa Giustina of Montegalda. They were obligated to pay tithes, bury their dead and, above all, be baptized at the pieve.
Despite changes and adjustments made over the centuries, the Pieve of Santa Giustina has kept its original medieval structure, consisting of a single nave with three apses, a main one in the centre and two smaller ones on the sides.
The altar was decorated with an altarpiece by Giambattista Maganza depicting the martyrdom of Santa Giustina. Today, the altarpiece is preserved in the new parish church of Montegalda, where visitors can also see two frescoes by Modolo and the great cycle of frescoes in the presbytery and choir. This fresco cycle covers over 1,000 square metres and portrays saints and scenes from the life of Christ with typical forms of Eastern iconography, almost a kind of bridge between two civilizations and cultures. They were painted between 1998 and 2000 by Romanian painter Mikhail Ivanov and his wife.
