Archbishop's Chapel (Cappella Arcivescovile) description and photos - Italy: Ravenna (Topic)

Archbishop's Chapel (Cappella Arcivescovile) description and photos - Italy: Ravenna. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Cappella Arcivescovile.

Photo and description

The Archbishop's Chapel is one of the oldest churches in Ravenna, built in the late 5th - early 6th centuries by order of Emperor Theodoric on the first floor of the Episcopal Palace. It is the smallest of the famous buildings in Ravenna, decorated with mosaics. Dedicated to the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, in 1996 the chapel was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Archbishop's Chapel has the shape of a Greek cross, the eastern end of which ends with an apse. In front of the entrance there is a rectangular narthex, the vault of which is decorated with mosaic white lilies, roses and colorful birds. Also, the mosaic adorns the lunette above the entrance to the chapel - here you can see a young warrior Christ in Roman armor. In the apse, there is another mosaic with the image of a cross against the background of the starry sky. On the vault is the monogram of Christ and the symbols of the evangelists. It is believed that such a frequent depiction of Christ speaks of the desire of the chapel's customer to emphasize the divine nature of Jesus, which the Goths-Arians rejected.

Not all of the original mosaics have survived to this day - some of them were covered with Luca Longa's tempera painting in the 16th century. In 1914, the chapel was restored and the entrance was altered. Today, inside it you can see the silver cross of the local Archbishop Agnellus with medallions from the 6th and 16th centuries.

The Archbishop's Chapel is today the only surviving early Christian private prayer house in Europe.

We also recommend reading Church of Paraskeva Friday description and photos - Russia - Volga region: Kazan

Topic: Archbishop's Chapel (Cappella Arcivescovile) description and photos - Italy: Ravenna.