S. Vitalis at Ravenna
| Church of San Vitale | |
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The Church of San Vitale
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Ravenna, Italy |
| Geographic coordinates | 44°25′12″N 12°11′46″E / 44.42°N 12.196°ECoordinates: 44°25′12″N 12°11′46″E / 44.42°N 12.196°E |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Province | Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia |
| Region | Emilia-Romagna |
| Country | Italy |
| Year consecrated | 547 |
| Website | http://www.ravennamosaici.it/ |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural style | Byzantine |
| Groundbreaking | 527 |
| Completed | 548 |
| Construction cost | 26,000 solidi |
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| Criteria | Cultural: (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) 
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| Reference | 788-002 |
| Inscription | 1996 (20th Session) |
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 Byzantine Art: San Vitale, Ravenna, Smarthistory
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The "Basilica of San Vitale" is a church in Ravenna, Italy, and one of the most important examples of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture in Europe. The Roman Catholic Church has designated the building a "basilica", the honorific title bestowed on church buildings of exceptional historic and ecclesial importance, although it is not of architectural basilica form. It is one of eight Ravenna structures inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The church was begun by Bishop Ecclesius in 526, when Ravenna was under the rule of the Ostrogoths and completed by the 27th Bishop of Ravenna, Maximian, in 547 preceding the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna.
The construction of the church was sponsored by Julius Argentarius, a banker and architect, of whom very little is known, except that he also sponsored the construction of the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe at around the same time. (A donor portrait of Julius Argentarius may appear among the courtiers on the Justinian mosaic.) The final cost amounted to 26,000 solidi (gold pieces). It has been suggested that Julian originated in the eastern part of the Byzantine Empire, where there was a long-standing tradition of public benefactions.
The central vault used a western technique of hollow tubes inserted into each other, rather than bricks. This method was the first recorded structural use of terra-cotta forms, which later evolved into modern structural clay tile. The ambulatory and gallery were vaulted only later in the Middle Ages.
The Baroque fresco on the dome was made between 1778 and 1782 by S. Barozzi, U. Gandolfi and E. Guarana.
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Wikipedia