Today is the feast of St Apollinaris, bishop and martyr, who according to a tradition which is not considered historically reliable, was a personal disciple of St Peter, and accompanied him from Antioch to Rome. The Apostle sent him north from Rome to be the first bishop of the small city of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region; after various persecutions and exiles, he was martyred in the reign of the Emperor Vespasian, ca. 79 AD. In the late 5th century, Ravenna was the capital of the Ostrogothic Kings, who had overthrown the Roman Emperor of the West in 476. It was subsequently retaken by the Eastern Roman Empire, and became the seat of the Byzantine governor of Italy, known as the Exarch of Ravenna, until the mid-8th century. Several Christian monuments survive from this period, including two churches dedicated to St Apollinaris; over the next few weeks, we will be sharing Nicola’s photos of these monuments, taken during a recent visit. (Earlier this month, we did the nearby abbey of Pomposa in three parts: part 1, part 2, part 3.)
New Liturgical Movement: The Basilica of St Apollinaris in Classe (Part 1)
New Liturgical Movement: The Basilica of St Apollinaris in Classe (Part 1)
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