Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
Located next to the Basilica of San Vitale and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna is a small building in the shape of a Latin cross built to house the remains of the Roman empress.
The mausoleum's original appearance was very different. At the time of its construction, the mausoleum was connected to the narthex of the now-demolished church of Santa Croce and was also about 1.5 metres higher than its current dimensions. Ravenna is indeed known for the
process of subsidence, i.e. the slow process of the city sinking into the ground over the centuries.
About Galla Placidia
A leading figure of her time,
Galla Placidia was born in Constantinople in 386 A.D. and died in 450. Half-sister of the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius and niece of Valentinian I, Galla Placidia had two husbands, Ataulfo, King of the Visigoths, and Constantius III, Western Roman Emperor. Her son Valentinian III also became emperor, but given his young age it was Galla herself who ruled the empire in his stead.
Ravenna owes the empress the
construction of two religious buildings, the Church of Santa Croce and the Mausoleum, which never actually housed her remains. Galla Placidia was
buried in Rome, inside St Peter's Basilica, but her remains have been lost due to the various changes made to the building over the centuries.
On the other hand, Galla also had a basilica built in Ravenna, the one of
St John the Evangelist which today stands near the railway station. At the time of its construction the basilica stood near the sea, which then reached as far as the present railway line. This 'maritime' location of the church was due to a votive offering made by the empress, who had survived a shipwreck.
The mosaics of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia houses
the oldest known mosaics of late antiquity. Probably created between 425 and 450 AD, the mosaics covering the walls of this small building are striking for their extraordinary level of preservation as well as the eternal beauty of the scenes depicted.
While the lower level of the mausoleum is covered with marble and has
alabaster windows, the upper part of the walls is completely decorated in mosaic with sacred depictions such as the
allegory of the Good Shepherd, located in the lunette above the main entrance, and the
martyrdom of St Laurence, on the opposite side.
But perhaps the best known mosaic in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is the
starry sky covering the dome, in the centre of which is a cross surrounded by the figures of the apostles, St Peter and St Paul.
