During a restoration (ca 462 or 602) the Episcopal see of Patavium was joined Santa Maria. Bishop Tricidio restored the cathedral in 620 and it was again rebuilt between 899 A and 900 because of a fire. In 1075 the Bishop Olderico consecrated the new cathedral on the ruins of the previous church. For this last step construction, historians between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries supposes a facade building located to the east, with a confession and a crypt under the apse where bishop Tricidio is buried. His tombstone was discovered during the excavation of the foundations. This basilica collapsed during the January 3, 1117 earthquake.

Excavation and research by the Chair of Medieval Archeology at the University of Padua between 2011 and 2012 has expanded knowledge of the entire area around the Episcopal Palace, the Cathedral, and the Baptistery. In the north-east corner of the churchyard, they found the base of a tower with a square plan (10 by 10 metres (33 by 33 ft) in the Romanesque style from between the Tenth and Twelfth century. The excavations found the foundations of buildings from between the Ninth and Eleventh century. North of the Baptistery are a series of mosaic pavement from the Fourth and the Fifth Centuries. Among the finds, a sarcophagus in stone for relics, a Lacerta altar dating from the Fifth or Sixth century, fragments of liturgical furnishings from various eras, graves (56 individuals) and traces of home workshops from the Longobard age.

The Cathedral of Macillo

As a result of the earthquake of 1117, a new cathedral was erected by architect Macillo, it is not clear whether on the ruins of the cathedral of Olderico or to a new location; opening a piazza and churchyard. It was consecrated the April 24, 1180. The new church stood in area of the current cathedral, with the identical orientation (facade to the east and presbytery to the west) divided into three naves and the transept. The side aisle to the south, overlooking a road that skirted the Episcopal Palace and the bell tower, the side aisle to the north was contiguous to the cloister of the canons and the Baptistery. Inside the nave and the aisles were divided by columns and pillars, alternative in the Ottonian tradition. In 1227 the campanile was rebuilt. Bishop Stephen from Carrara promoted some restoration and embellishment of the vaults and (1399 and 1400).

The new Cathedral

The Bishop Peter Barozzi wanted to modernize the church with the construction of a new great presbytery second way et structure romanae ecclesiae Saint Peter, the project by Bernardo Rossellino for the choir of St. Peter's Basilica. The first stone of start the work was blessed and placed in the foundation the May 6, 1522 by Cardinal Francis Pisani who with the Canons and the prebendati funded the reconstruction. The project continued over two centuries. The January 2, 1551 the chapter of canons approved the model for the presbytery by Michelangelo Buonarroti to replace that of Jacopo Sansovino. The design of Michelangelo was completed within the next few decades. The presbytery was inaugurated by Bishop Federico Cornaro the April 14, 1582. Cornaro had to remove the old medieval bell tower initiated by Cardinal Pisani. The old facade was extended and adorned. Toward 1635 the construction of the right arm of the transept was begun and in 1693 the left side. The remains of the old cathedral were gradually removed and the new nave, designed by Gerolamo Frigimelica and Francesco Maria Preti, as well as Giambattista Novello built on the same site. The Casthedral was consecrated on August 25, 1754 by Cardinal Carlo Rezzonico. It was then designated a minor basilica. Construction of the dome began in 1756 under the direction of John Glory and Giorgio Massari.

Exterior

The Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta stands between the Episcopal palace and the Baptistery. It is a Latin cross with three bays and an octagonal dome. The dome of the Glory covered in lead. Two sacristies adjoin the presbytery, one for the Canons and the other for the Prebendati. Between the Prebendati sacristy and the transept is the bell tower. The side doors open a small courtyard for the presbytery and on the Via Duomo, by the carriage entrance to the Episcopal palace. On the bell tower is a plaque from the Roman era that mentions the Gens Fabia of Veio, a title in the history of Padua from 49 B.C.