Classe, Ravenna, Italy
Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe
A sixth-century basilica outside Ravenna whose apse mosaic of St. Apollinaris standing among sheep in a green paradise is one of the finest surviving works of early Christian art.
It stands alone in flat farmland outside Ravenna, a tall brick cylinder of a bell tower rising beside a plain brick nave. From the outside, it looks like a large barn. Then you walk through the doors and the apse mosaic stops you cold. A vast green meadow fills the half-dome, dotted with rocks, flowers, birds, and trees, all rendered in tesserae of green, gold, and blue. Twelve white sheep — the apostles — stand in a row at the base. In the center, St. Apollinaris, the first bishop of Ravenna, raises his hands in prayer, wearing a white chasuble covered in golden bees. Above him, a jeweled cross floats in a blue medallion of stars, and the faces of Moses and Elijah appear in clouds. The whole composition is meant to show the Transfiguration through symbols rather than figures, and it works. The nave is a long, quiet procession of columns — twenty-four marble pillars from a Greek quarry — with the apse glowing at the far end like a window into something better. Emperor Justinian funded this church in the 540s, when Ravenna was the capital of Byzantine Italy, and it still feels like a place where two worlds met.
Diocese: Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia
Style: Early Christian / Byzantine
What to See
Walk straight to the apse and let the mosaic fill your vision. The green meadow is lush and alive — count the sheep, find the birds, notice the rocks rendered in shades of brown and gray. St. Apollinaris stands with arms raised in the orant position, his chasuble decorated with bees that catch the light. Above him, the jeweled cross in its starry medallion is the focal point of the entire composition. The side walls of the apse have processions of saints and bishops of Ravenna in later mosaics. Along the nave, the marble sarcophagi of early bishops line the walls. The columns are worth examining up close — their carved capitals mix Byzantine and Roman motifs.
Pilgrim Notes
The basilica is about five kilometers south of Ravenna's city center, in what was once the Roman port of Classis. A bus runs regularly from the train station, or you can take a short taxi ride. There is a small admission fee. The church is less visited than Ravenna's in-town sites, which means you can often have the apse nearly to yourself. Visit in the morning when sunlight enters from the east and lights up the gold tesserae. Combine with Ravenna's other mosaic churches — San Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, and Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in the city. Mass is celebrated on Sundays.