The Church of St Apollinare Nuovo is Theodoric’s great Palatine church. Filled with splendid mosaic images of martyrs marching towards Christ, this late 5th century church was initially built for the Arian cult.
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The Galla Placidia Mausoleum in Ravenna, Italy, has a stunning display of Christian imagery created with the mosaics of late antiquity. Once inside, the visitor is transported to a celestial world.
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Ravenna’s Orthodox Baptistry, also known as the Baptistry of Neon, is the city’s oldest Christian monument. Its dome is filled with beautiful mosaics representing the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, and images of the twelve apostles surround this central medallion. Built in the 5th century, the building is now almost 10 feet underground.
Along with seven other Ravenna structures, the Orthodox Baptistry is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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Toward the end of the 5th century, Theodoric the Great consolidated his power and Arianism was the official religion of his court in Ravenna. It was during this time that this baptistry was built. The interior is full of exquisite mosaics depicting Christ’s baptism by John the Baptist while surrounded by the Apostles.
Since 1996 , the baptistery
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The Church of St Apollinare Nuovo is Theodoric’s great Palatine church. Filled with splendid mosaic images of martyrs marching towards Christ, this late 5th century church was initially built for the Arian cult.
Best viewed in 4K full screen.
The Basilica of St. Stephen in Bologna, Italy, is known locally as the Seven Churches. In Roman times, the site hosted a temple to the goddess Isis until Petronius, Bishop of Bologna from 431 to 450, and a patron saint of Bologna, began its transformation to a basilica inspired by the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
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This is a prelude to a tour of art and architecture in North East Italy and Croatia. The churches span the time between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages and include the famous Mausolea di Galla Placida and Basilica di San Vitale in Ravenna, the Euphrasian Basilica and Baptistry in Porec, Croatian, and the Torcello, Italy cathedral
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Our final church of our summer tour is the Cathedrale Notre-Dame in Amiens, usually referred to as the Amiens Cathedral. We were here on a Sunday morning, so church bells were ringing as we entered the church square.
We announce our September tour in this video!
A UNESCO World Heritage Center, this 13th-century church was completed in about 50 years. Due to its fast and uninterrupted construction, the structure has a unity of High Gothic style throughout. As with every church we have gone to, Amiens Cathedral is an active faith community, therefore we first toured its beautiful outside while the Sunday-morning worshipers attended services inside. The three west portals are filled with sculpture and the center tympanum, with its Last Judgement, is both breathtaking and intriguing in its detail. The flying buttresses are especially elegant with their pierced designs.
Once inside, we had one last opportunity to view yet more exceedingly high vaults, not quite as high as those we saw in Beauvais, but close. Although services had ended as we toured the inside, we enjoyed an organ recital which was magnificent. So this five-week immersion tour of medieval churches comes to an end. Mike gets a heartfelt thanks for all he did to bring the photos, videos, text, and audio work to life. He has been incredibly supportive of this endeavor and made it even better with his production talents and his addition of music. We both want to thank Pastor Richard for suggesting the blog – it was truly a labor of love and we appreciate the opportunity to record the experience for all to enjoy.
So… until the next church journey…which we announce in this video
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Our second church was Cathedrale Saint-Pierre in Beauvais. This church was the climax of French upwardly aspiring Gothic architecture. The tallest structure of the entire tour, it had the highest vault in medieval Europe. Even today when we are accustomed to seeing skyscrapers, it calls for a “wow” when you go inside. The structure was also interesting because the nave was never completed, allowing us some insight as to how medieval worshipers were able to conduct services when only an east end and transepts were completed.
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We saw two churches today, the first a collegiate church in Mantes-La-Jolie named Collegiale Notre-Dame. We spent much time looking at its outside and were well rewarded. Built on a steep hill above the River Seine, this church was strategically located between the powerful Duchy of Normandy and the Paris-based Capetian kingdom. In fact, William the Conqueror, also the Duke of Normandy, attacked Mantes in 1087 and the church was burned down along with most of the town. William left funds for the church’s rebuilding, although what we see today was yet another rebuilding from the middle to late 12th century.
