Esterno della basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.

Ravenna, esterno della basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.

Unesco monuments

Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo

On the walls of the basilica still resounds the battle between Arianism and Orthodoxy, fought tessera by tessera

Ravenna, dettaglio del campanile di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.

Ravenna, vista interna della navata centrale di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.

WHY IT IS A UNESCO HERITAGE SITE
For the first time, the perfect fusion of Western and Eastern architectural and decorative elements, characteristic of Ravenna’s buildings, is achieved. The Christological cycle is unique in its thematic choices and reflects the religion of the Goths. Mosaics of both Theodoric and Justinian coexist here.

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History

The exterior is made of simple red bricks. The gabled façade is enhanced by a 9th-century biforate window, contemporary with the bell tower, and a marble-covered narthex added in the 16th century.
The basilica has a longitudinal plan with three naves. The interior is divided by 12 splendid Greek marble columns on each side, with lyre-shaped capitals, brought directly from Constantinople.
Theodoric, the cultured king of the Ostrogoths, commissioned the construction of the basilica between 493 and 526 as a palace church reserved for Arian worship and dedicated to Christ the Savior. The ruler commissioned also a cycle of mosaics intended to exalt his dominion over land and sea, his court, and the figure of Christ. Arianism, considered heretical by the Orthodox Church, denied the divine nature of Christ, instead venerating him only as a model to be followed for eternal salvation. After the fall of the Ostrogothic kingdom and the Byzantine conquest of the city, the church was re-dedicated to St. Martin in 561 A.D., and new mosaics of sublime quality were created.

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Must-see mosaics in this place

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Theodoric’s Palace

As soon as we enter the basilica we are greeted by the mosaic depicting Theodoric’s palace. It is a sumptuous building, decorated with Victories, precious marbles, that symbolically embracing the whole city. We see the domes of the two baptisteries, the Arian and the Neonian, alongside two imposing structures, perhaps the Church of the Holy Spirit and the Archbishop’s complex. Theodoric had himself and the court portrayed under the arches and the doors of his palace. In 561 the Orthodox Emperor Justinian, through Archbishop Agnello, had the images of the heretical Arians destroyed. They replaced them with precious draperies but, if we look carefully, hands peep out from the white columns – they are what remains of the first commissioning.

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Ravenna, dettaglio del mosaico con la facciata del palazzo imperiale e i tetti degli edifici ravennati.

Classis

On the opposite side of the Palatium is a depiction of the city of Classe – Theodoric wished to be remembered as king of the land and the seas. The town of Classe is surrounded by imposing walls, in gold tiles, preceded by three splendid ships, one of which has its sails unfurled. Classe owes its name to the presence of Classis, the imperial fleet. It was an economic, military and religious center as important as the capital, Ravenna.

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Ravenna, dettaglio del mosaico con la città di Classe e tre navi, nella basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.

The last supper

In the third register, above the nave windows, are narrated the public and private stories of Christ, commissioned by Theodoric. The Last Supper is very unusual. Christ, dressed in purple, and the Apostles, are unusually reclining on a stibadium, a kind of settee arranged in a horseshoe shape. The place of honor, on the left side, is reserved for Christ – the astonished gazes of the Apostles, vividly rendered by a play of black and white tiles, lead one by one to the figure of Judas, the future betrayer. In the center of the table, instead of the lamb, two fish and pyramid-shaped loaves – the “pure supper” of Jewish tradition, also adopted by the Arians.

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Ravenna, mosaico con la raffigurazione di Cristo e gli Apostoli nell'Ultima Cena, nella basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.

Procession of Saint

The long procession of silent and elegant Saints, dressed as Byzantine princesses, were realised after 561 AD, when Justinian decided to return Arian property to Orthodox hands. They replace some figures from Theodoric’s court. The Saints, accompanied by their names, are led by St. Euphemia of Chalcedon, venerated then as the patron saint of Orthodoxy. Together with the procession of Saints on the opposite wall, the 6th-century Justinian mosaics are a sublime example of Byzantine art. Centuries later, in the 14th century, the Supreme Poet Dante Alighieri seems to have been inspired by them in some suggestions in Canto XXIX of Purgatory.

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Ravenna, mosaico con la processione delle Sante sul fondo oro, nella basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.

Info & tickets

Via di Roma, 53, 48020 Ravenna RA

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Entrance fee

Admission: €10.50
Concession: €9.50 (*)
The ticket is only combined: the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, The Neonian Baptistery (**), the Basilica of San Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (**), the Archiepiscopal Museum and Chapel.
The ticket is valid for 7 consecutive days from the date of issue and entitles the holder to one admission for each monument.
* Valid for Italian and foreign students during the school year and associations with agreements.
** For the admission to the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia and Neonian Baptistery applies a € 2 charge (booking is compulsory). The charge also applies to children more than 6 years old and residents of the Municipality of Ravenna.

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Booking

Tickets can be booked online or by contacting the Reservation Centre.
In addition, tickets can also be purchased on the day of visit at the ticket offices located at the following monumental complexes (priority to pre-booked and pre-sales tickets, subject to availability).
For further information: www.ravennamosaici.it

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Free of charge

Children until 10 years old; residents of the Municipality of Ravenna (with valid ID document proving the residency); people with disabilities (with certified disability higher than 74% or holders of the Carta Bianca); members of the clergy; servicepersons; tourist guides of the Emilia-Romagna Region working.
Journalists, in order to be granted free admission, have to ask in advance written autorization to Direzione dell’Opera di Religione: info@ravennamosaici.it
For groups: every 20 paying participants, 1 free group leader.
For schools: 1 free teacher every 10 students.

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Ravenna, vista dell'interno della Cappella di Sant'Andrea, mosaici del Vi secolo e affreschi di Luca Longhi, XVI secolo, nelle lunette laterali.

Mosaic places

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