BASILICA OF SANT'APOLLINARE IN CLASSE, Interior

The interior of the Basilica is really large, with three naves, some as long as 55 meters – or 180 feet – and as high as 30 meters or 100 feet.

The aisles are delineated by two colonnades of 12 columns each, made of splendid marble from Byzantine quarries. Each rests on a prominent parallelepiped base and is decorated at the top with capitals carved with acanthus leaf motifs.

On either side of the nave, above the arches, are 18th-century frescoes depicting archbishops of Ravenna.

Now head to the apse, where the best-preserved mosaic decoration stands out, whose color, predominantly gold and green, will have already caught your attention.

Toward the center of the nave, you find a light-colored marble altar that a legend says was built to hold the remains of St. Apollinaris. It is also said that while praying at this altar, St. Romuald of Camaldolese had a vision of the saint twice.

Now press pause and press play again when you are closer to the apse....