Ravenna, Italy : San Vitale Church (photos taken 2 October 2022
The Basilica of San Vitale is considered to be one of the finest works of Byzantine architecture. It was built between 526 and 547, while Ravenna was the seat of the Roman Empire. The ruler who commissioned it was an Ostragothic woman, Amalasuntha, who was acting as regent for young son until he died in 534. At that point she not right to the throne, but arranged to share power with her cousin, Theodahad. That didn't last long, because her pro-Byzantine and Roman policies invoked the ire of Ostrogoth nobility, who influenced Theodahad to exile her to an island in a Tuscan lake, where she was strangled in 535 by relatives of Ostragoths whom she had ordered executed two years earlier.
The architecture of the church is gorgeous … and easily referenceable if you're interested in a technical description of it (for me, the most astonishing fact was that the domes are built of terra cotta. I had the vision of an upside down flower pot!). But the real draw are the mosaics, which are dedicated to Emperor Justinian, who reigned over the Empire from Constantinople; and to Empress Theodoric, Amalasuntha's mother.
Mary and I had already planned a trip to Italy in the fall of 2022 (following two previous planned trips that were cancelled due to the pandemic) to visit her family in the Piedmont. I actually knew nothing about Ravenna, but ran across an article — a long and very informative book review in the NY Review of Books the previous year before our second cancelled trip — about the mosaics of Ravenna. I was instantly captivated, and after a few minutes communing with googlemaps figured out that going to Ravenna, way up on the Italy's upper Adriatic coast, would actually only mean an extra two hours or so in our drive from Rome to Cuneo.
It was a great decision. We had a luxury B&B in the historic center, with a stunning view of a large church, and very close to another major mosaic site, Sant' Apollinare. The mosaics were very much worth the effort and the journey to one of Italy's 'second-tier' tourist destinations. And the city itself was very enjoyable. I could easily spend a week there, just hanging out.
