Basilica di San Vitale
Cathedral
Basilica di San Vitale
Basilica di San Vitale
Ravenna's abundant signature building
Basilica di San Vitale is probably one of the most beautiful and certainly most popular Ravennese buildings. It is located northwest of the Piazza del Popolo and is part of the site of the former Benedictine monastery San Vitale. Construction already began in 526 under the rule of Theoderic the Great, yet was only finished 20 years later under Emperor Justinian I. The basilica is dedicated to Saint Vitalis of Milan, a Roman soldier that was killed during Nero's persecution of Christians in Ravenna.
Fascinating interior
The octagonal UNESCO World Heritage Site is known across the world for its mosaics. The entire interior of the basilica used to be vested with mosaics. However, today only a floor and the mosaics in the apse and the presbytery are still intact. Probably the most famous of those are the mosaics right and left of the apse altar depicting the imperial couple Justinian I and Theodora surrounded by their imperial suite in all of their pomp and glory. Equally impressive: the depiction of a beardless Christ on a globe with two angels accompanying Bishop Ecclesius and Saint Vitalis in the apse alcove. The mosaics in the presbytery show several scenes from the Old Testament and the Eucharist.
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