Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe

Standing alone in open country south of Ravenna, Sant'Apollinare in Classe looks from outside like a plain brick barn with a round tower beside it. Step through the door and the effect is overwhelming: a long, luminous nave lined with marble columns leads the eye to an apse shimmering with green and gold mosaic, one of the great images of early Christian art. UNESCO describes the church as an outstanding example of the early Christian basilica, both for the purity of its design and for the splendour of its decoration.

The church was begun in the early 6th century under Bishop Ursicinus, paid for by the wealthy banker Julianus Argentarius, who also financed San Vitale in Ravenna. It was consecrated on 9 May 549 by Bishop Maximian and dedicated to Saint Apollinaris, by tradition the first bishop of Ravenna, whose relics it holds. At that time Classe was a busy harbour town, the home of the Roman imperial fleet that gave it its name, classis. Silt from the rivers has since pushed the coastline many kilometres to the east, and the port has vanished under fields, leaving the basilica marooned inland.

The interior follows the classic basilica plan, with a wide nave between two aisles and twenty-four columns of Greek marble whose capitals carry acanthus leaves that seem to flutter as if blown by the wind. The marble that once faced the aisle walls was stripped away in the 15th century, which makes the surviving mosaics all the more striking. In the apse a great jewelled cross set in a starry blue disc stands for the Transfiguration, with Moses and Elijah on either side and three lambs below for the watching apostles. Beneath them Saint Apollinaris stands with raised arms in a green meadow of rocks, trees and birds, flanked by twelve white sheep representing his flock. Later panels show the Byzantine emperor Constantine IV granting privileges to the church of Ravenna.

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.

Getting there

The basilica stands in Classe, about 4.5 km south of the centre of Ravenna, and is reached by road or local bus from the city. Ravenna railway station has regular trains from Bologna. The nearest airport is Forlì Airport (FRL), about 24 km away; Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport is the main international gateway for the region.