Ravenna
Church of San Vitale
Built between AD 526 and 547, the church of San Vitale stands as one of the finest examples of Byzantine architecture. Emperor Justinian I, ruler of the Byzantine Empire from 527 to 565, built San Vitale in his Italian stronghold at Ravenna when he extended Byzantine rule through western Europe. The church’s design, especially its domed, centralized, octagonal core, drew heavily from earlier Byzantine architecture in Constantinople, the capital of the empire.
Beautiful mosaics within the church commemorate various spiritual and secular subjects, including Justinian and the rest of the Byzantine court.
