Church of the Holy Cross

Excavations around the Church of Santa Croce reveal the presence of a richly decorated Roman imperial villa. The church wanted by Galla placida, and built around 420 d. C., was built on the ruins of the house. The original church, longer than the present one, had a portico that incorporated the so-called Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Note the difference in altitude with respect to the current road level, due to the phenomenon of subsidence, that is the crushing of the ground which in Ravenna reaches over one centimeter per year. Too bad that the church is not open to the public, except on rare occasions.

Beautiful exterior mosaics Inside I don't know, a short time and covid prevented me from doing it but I'll be back

The church of Santa Croce is a church built in Ravenna Roman empress Galla Placida; between the late fourteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century the imposing church was mutilated in some of its parts. The so-called Mausoleum of Galla Placida was initially a chapel accessible from the narthex of the church, but the subsequent demolitions have made a separate building. According to the historian Agnello, the empress Galla Placidia erected two churches in Ravenna, the church of San Giovanni Evangelista and a church dedicated to the Holy Cross, and reports a tradition according to which in this second church the empress prayed at night, prostrate on the floor porphyry, in the light of candles. The church, located in the northwest of the ancient city, was built on some of the third century houses, now in ruins. The date of the construction is not known, it could date back to the period between 417 and 421, when Galla resided in Ravenna with her husband Costanzo III, or the period after 425, when the empress returned to the capital of the West. The church remained unchanged until the late fourteenth century, when the north and south arms were demolished; in the late sixteenth century, it was the turn of the narthex, while in 1602 the construction of the road now known as Via Galla Placida required the demolition of the seven westernmost meters of the nave. The church was erected towards west-east in reused bricks. The external walls were divided by pilasters and probably by blind arches, as it is now for the southern chapel. Reconstruction of the church in its initial conformation; in the foreground the narthex then demolished and the mausoleum of Galla Placidia. The building's plan was a Latin cross, a unique case for Ravenna at the time. It was a choice of symbolic significance, since even the Apostolorum Basilica and virginum Basilica di Milano (former imperial capital) had this form, by choice of Bishop Ambrose of Milan: Ambrose had also composed a poem on the Apostolorum Basilica in which he connected to the plan of the building to the shape of the cross of Christ. The building had a single nave 11 meters wide, with a large transept placed in north-south direction and a narthex; singular characteristic of the plant is that it is not strictly rectilinear, with junction angles of the non-orthogonal walls and with the end parts of the distorted transects. Another peculiar feature of this church, of which there is a possible parallel only in the lateral passages of virginum Basilica, were the two porches, large 4 meters, which ran parallel to the nave, supported by two rows of columns that ranged from each transect to the narthex ; it is not known what their function, but since at least the sixth century were used to accommodate burials, which were practiced to create the openings in the mantle mosaic in geometric and plant figures. In the western part there was the narthex, 6 meters wide and extending for 4 meters beyond the width of the central nave. On the short southern side, through a triple arch and a vestibule, one entered a cruciform plant chapel, currently detached from the church following the demolition of the following centuries and known as the mausoleum of Galla Placidia. The triple arch was supported by two columns resting on bases of red Verona marble, while on the walls there were inlaid marble columns. The mausoleum, the top eleven centimeters over the narthex, was built with bricks and mortar different from that church, so it was probably built after the church itself. It is possible that there was another chapel arranged symmetrically with respect to the mausoleum, on the other side of the narthex, in the same configuration of San Giovanni Evangelista; It might identify with the chapel built in the vicinity of Santa Croce from Singledia, grandson of Galla, and dedicated to San Zaccaria, but the existence of this building has no archaeological evidence.

Small but very charming !!! Made erected by the empress Galla Placidia exudes that atmosphere of imperial Ravenna that I personally believe irresistible! The historian Agnello wrote about this Church ... "and they say that Galla Placidia herself ordered to place candlesticks on four red marble bases, and threw herself at night and day on the floor to pray to God, and spent the night praying in tears, until the candles sent light "... Around some interesting glimpses of floors and walls of the ancient complex of which it was part!

Impressive in its small dimensions. To be seen.