The Most Beautiful Churches in Emilia-Romagna
8 places · updated 14 October 2026
In short: By our ranking, the most beautiful churches in Emilia-Romagna are Baptistry of Neon, Modena Cathedral and Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. The list covers 8 churches. Last updated 14 October 2026.
Emilia-Romagna holds two great chapters of church building side by side. In Ravenna, capital of the late Western Roman Empire, then of Theodoric's Ostrogothic kingdom and finally of Byzantine Italy, the fifth and sixth centuries left churches whose plain brick exteriors hide walls of glass and gold mosaic. Along the Via Emilia, the cities that grew rich in the Middle Ages answered with Romanesque cathedrals and baptisteries carved in stone, and Bologna later crowned its hills with Baroque sanctuaries.
The Baptistery of Neon in Ravenna is an octagon whose dome shows the baptism of Christ ringed by the twelve apostles. Nearby, San Vitale holds the facing mosaic panels of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora with their courts, and Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, built under Theodoric, lines its nave with long processions of martyrs and virgins moving toward the altar.
Modena Cathedral, begun in 1099 by the architect Lanfranco, carries Wiligelmo's relief carvings of Genesis on its facade. Parma's octagonal baptistery, started by Benedetto Antelami in the late twelfth century, is clad in pink Verona marble. Above Bologna, the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca stands on the Colle della Guardia, joined to the city by a covered portico of 666 arches that climbs the hillside for nearly four kilometres.
In this list
| # | Place | Type | UNESCO |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baptistry of Neon | Church building | ✓ |
| 2 | Modena Cathedral | Cathedral | ✓ |
| 3 | Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca | Church building | ✓ |
| 4 | Baptistery of Parma | Church building | |
| 5 | Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna | Church building | ✓ |
| 6 | Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna | Church building | ✓ |
| 7 | Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe | Church building | ✓ |
| 8 | Archbishop's Chapel, Ravenna | Church building | ✓ |
01 Baptistry of Neon
Battistero Neoniano
Italy · 1.9 km from Ravenna44.416° N 12.197° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
Clodette662000 · CC BY-SA 4.0 It is best seen together with the other monuments, San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia among them.
Did you know? A restoration of 1897 to 1906 stripped off stucco decoration thought to be later additions; it proved to be fifth-century, and only reconstructions remain.
02 Modena Cathedral
Duomo di Modena
Italy · 0.6 km from Modena44.646° N 10.925° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
Image by Ermaf62 from Pixabay Inside, the crypt still displays the saint's remains. The marble parapet between the nave and the crypt, carved by Anselmo da Campione with the Passion and the Last Supper, and a pulpit by Arrigo da Campione are the highlights, together with two famous terracotta nativity groups: Guido Mazzoni's of 1480 in the crypt and Antonio Begarelli's of 1527. The funeral of Modena's most famous son, the tenor Luciano Pavarotti, was held here.
03 Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca
Santuario della Madonna di San Luca
Italy · 4.1 km from Bologna44.479° N 11.298° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
Image by alex1965 from Pixabay The road up the hill is a known climb in professional cycling. It hosts the finish circuit of the Giro dell'Emilia, featured in the Giro d'Italia as early as 1956 and appeared in the 2024 Tour de France. From 1931 to 1976 a cable car ran up the hill, and its abandoned top station still stands. Walking the portico, especially the steep final stretch, is the traditional way to arrive.
04 Baptistery of Parma
Battistero di Parma
Italy · 1.2 km from Parma44.803° N 10.330° E
Image by valtercirillo from Pixabay The dome paintings, executed in tempera in the thirteenth century, begin with a red sky of divine love at the summit and a blue starry heaven, then descend through the apostles and evangelists, Christ enthroned between the Virgin and John the Baptist with the prophets, and twelve scenes from the Baptist's life, down to the stories of Abraham, the seasons and the elements in the arches. The niches below received votive frescoes from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, including a Saint George slaying the dragon attributed to Buffalmacco. At the centre stands a large octagonal basin of Verona marble made for baptism by immersion.
Did you know? The dome is about 23.25 metres across and was painted in fast-drying tempera rather than true fresco, which is why the paint began flaking early.
05 Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna
Basilica di San Vitale
Italy · 1.9 km from Ravenna44.421° N 12.196° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
Terragio67 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century, then the seat of the Ostrogothic kings, and later the centre of Byzantine rule in Italy. Each period left buildings decorated with mosaics. San Vitale is one of eight early Christian monuments in the city that UNESCO inscribed together as a World Heritage Site in 1996. It is also the only major church from Justinian's reign to survive almost unchanged.
Did you know? Justinian's panel is traditionally read as including his generals Belisarius and Narses among the courtiers, soldiers and clergy.
06 Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna
Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo
Italy · 1.3 km from Ravenna44.417° N 12.205° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
Simo.Albo80 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The basilica is one of the early Christian monuments of Ravenna inscribed together on the UNESCO World Heritage List, cited for the way it fuses Western and Eastern traditions. Ravenna, near the Adriatic in Emilia-Romagna, was capital of the Western Roman Empire, then of the Ostrogothic kingdom and later of Byzantine Italy, and its churches preserve an unrivalled body of mosaics from those centuries.
Did you know? The procession on the north wall counts 22 virgins, while 26 male martyrs, led by Saint Martin, file along the opposite wall.
07 Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe
Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe
Italy · 4.6 km from Ravenna44.380° N 12.232° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
Marek Śliwecki · CC BY-SA 4.0 Ravenna was the last capital of the Western Roman Empire and then the seat of Byzantine rule in Italy, and its churches preserve one of the richest ensembles of mosaics from that age. Since 1996 Sant'Apollinare in Classe has been one of the eight Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Sarcophagi from the 5th to the 8th centuries line its walls, and a tall cylindrical bell tower, added in the Middle Ages, stands beside it.
Did you know? Classe was once the port of the Roman imperial fleet, but silt has moved the coast many kilometres away.
08 Archbishop's Chapel, Ravenna
Cappella Arcivescovile
Italy · 1.9 km from Ravenna44.416° N 12.198° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
GFreihalter · CC BY-SA 3.0 First dedicated to Christ the Saviour, the chapel later took the name of Saint Andrew. Together with seven other buildings in the city it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1996 as part of the Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna. Ravenna itself, near the Adriatic coast of Emilia-Romagna, was in turn the last capital of the Western Roman Empire, Theodoric's seat and the centre of Byzantine power in Italy, and the mosaics left by each of those eras are why the city is so often called a treasure house of late antique art.
Did you know? Its mosaic of Christ as a warrior trampling a lion and a serpent is read as a rebuke to the Arian faith of King Theodoric.
How this list is ranked
Places are chosen for how they look, not for how famous they are: each one has its own description and a photograph credited to its author. The order is a single world ranking that weighs the beauty of the place in curated photography together with how widely it is documented — the number of language editions of its encyclopedia article and how often that article is read in a year. The list is rebuilt as places are added, so the order and the counts on this page are always current.
Questions people ask
- What are the most beautiful churches in Emilia-Romagna?
- On our list, Baptistry of Neon ranks first, followed by Modena Cathedral and Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca.
- Why does Ravenna have so many early Christian mosaics?
- Ravenna served as the capital of the Western Roman Empire from 402, then of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric, then as the seat of Byzantine rule in Italy. Each of these rulers decorated churches and baptisteries with mosaics, and eight of these monuments were inscribed together on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996.
- How many arches does the San Luca portico in Bologna have?
- The portico leading up to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca has 666 arches. Built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it is the longest of Bologna's porticoes, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021.
- Who built Modena Cathedral?
- Construction began in 1099 under the architect Lanfranco, while the sculptor Wiligelmo carved the reliefs on the facade. The cathedral, the Torre Civica and Piazza Grande are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- How many churches are on this list in Emilia-Romagna?
- The list covers 8 churches.