Sant'Apollinare in Classe, Byzantine basilica in Classe, Italy
Sant'Apollinare in Classe is a brick early Christian basilica in Classe, in the municipality of Ravenna. Its long facade with a row of tall arched windows is preceded by a wide narthex, and a cylindrical brick bell tower with a shallow conical roof stands at the right end. Inside, a central nave and two side aisles are divided by 24 Greek marble columns with wind-blown acanthus capitals, ending in a polygonal apse flanked by two apsidal chapels.
Bishop Ursicinus commissioned the church shortly after the death of King Theodoric, and the banker Julian Argentarius paid for it; it was consecrated on 9 May 549 by Archbishop Maximian. It was built as a martyrial shrine over the burial place of Saint Apollinaris and became the burial church of Ravenna's archbishops from John the Roman (578-595) to Gratiosus (784-789). Pope John XXIII raised it to minor basilica on 7 October 1960.
The name refers to Saint Apollinaris and to Classe, the ancient port of Ravenna. The interior floor displays tomb slabs of former archbishops marked with Latin inscriptions.
The building stands a few kilometers outside central Ravenna in open countryside. The level structure is easy to walk and wheelchair-friendly, with enough daylight inside for visits into the late afternoon.
The twelve lambs in the apse mosaic stand for the faithful, while the three lambs above them, beside the jewelled cross, are Peter, James and John at the Transfiguration. On the triumphal arch the twelve lambs leave the gem-studded walls of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, symbols of the Apostles.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,894 contributors worldwide.
