Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe

The majestic exterior is in simple red bricks. The façade features the narthex –a porticoed area that was intended for the unbaptized – and a tall bell tower built between the 10th and 11th centuries.
The interior is divided into three naves by two rows of 12 columns – they are in precious veined Greek marble and come from the Sea of Marmara. They have splendid capitals with “acanthus leaves moved by the wind.“
The mosaics of the apse were illuminated by the light diffused by white marble covering all the interior walls, removed by Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, in the first half of the 1400s, to reuse them in the Malatesta Temple in Rimini. The atmosphere today is majestic and dazzling thanks to 53 small windows, and four large windows in the apse, that allow light to diffuse and strike the mosaic surfaces.
It is the most important building of worship in the ancient church of Ravenna, which was second only to Rome. It stands on the burial site of Saint Apollinaris, the city’s first bishop and patron. It was commissioned by Bishop Ursicinus and financed by Julian Argentario (the same as the Basilica of San Vitale) and was consecrated by Bishop Maximianus on May 9, 549.