ARIAN BAPTISTERY, Presentation

Hi, my name’s Rick, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: the Arian Baptistery.

The Arian Baptistery was built in the late-5th and early-6th centuries by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric, who also had a basilica built for Arian worship, the present Church of the Holy Spirit, which you find in the immediate vicinity.

As you can see, the Baptistery is more than two meters lower than street level due to the phenomenon of subsidence, that is, the sinking of the floor, which has affected several areas of the city in the past.

From the outside, the small octagonal building looks very simple and modest. Clad in simple brick, its structure is distinguished by the presence of four small apses and windows on the upper level.

Originally, there was an ambulatory, i.e. a porticoed corridor, decorated with columns of which nothing remains. Over time, the fixtures, stucco, marble, and most of the mosaic decoration also disappeared.

But the most beautiful jewels, namely the mosaics of the dome, have come down to us and you can admire them up above in all their glory....