Basilica of Saint Agatha

Quite boring compared to other sights in Ravenna

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Very enveloping church with the complicity of a single organ player who spreads mysticism and sacredness in the discreet dim light of the sacred place.

Beautiful little basilica, it is a pity that it cannot be visited very often

The Basilica of Sant'Agata Maggiore (defined as greater because, in the Middle Ages, there were two other churches dedicated to the saint in Ravenna) arose in the late antiquity (V century) in a position overlooking the river Padenna, now disappeared, whose course is currently from the axis of Via Mazzini. The basilica, as well as the most famous of San Vitale, was probably built under the bishop Peter II (494-519), whose monogram is in the central nave, even if it is the bishop Giovanni I (477-494) to be considered the true founder. However, the apse was probably built in the following century, under the bishop Agnello (556-569), with the financial contribution of the banker from Ravenna Giuliano Argentario, who had also financed the construction of the basilica of San Vitale. The columns of the ancient quadriportico and one of the ancient side doors The original church had the floor at about 2.50 meters below the current one. In place of the current garden, once a cemetery, in front of the church, there was a quadriportico, demolished in the sixteenth century to make room for the bell tower, which opened the three doors of the church (the architraves of the two side doors are still visible , now buried). Still in the garden, there are pieces of columns, perhaps those of the quadriportico. At the same time as the bell tower was built (1560), four Renaissance altars were installed inside the church, still on site, located in the side aisles. In April 1688, due to an earthquake, the mosaic decoration that adorned the apse was totally lost, except for some fragments in the intrados of the windows. After the seismic event, which damaged the structure of the church, the floor plan was raised by 2.50 meters. In place of the mosaic, the now unadorned apse was enriched with Baroque furnishings. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, then, during some excavations, the ancient Early Christian mosaic floor was found, currently conserved elsewhere. During the radical restoration of 1913-1918, conducted by Giuseppe Gerola, all the Baroque additions were demolished and the façade was embellished by the beautiful porch and the Renaissance bifora. During the bombings of 1944, the apse was almost completely destroyed and with it all that remained of the Renaissance frescoes. Its ancient appearance was recovered during the restoration of the sixties, when its large windows were reopened. The last restoration dates back to the eighties, when the roof and the floor were redone. Currently (2010) the church can be visited and officiated regularly.