Theodore Mausoleum in Ravenna

Theodoric mausoleum

Located less than 1.5 km north-east of the old town center (Piazza del Popolo) in Ravenna. His construction was undertaken during the king's lifetime, probably by his command. During the life of the ruler, circa 515, a mighty, pre-processed limestone block of about 360 m³ was brought to Ravenna from Istria. Already at the construction site, a dome with a diameter of 10.88 m, a height of 3.06 m and a wall thickness of about 0.8 m was built inside. The finished dome has a weight of 276 tons. In order to raise such a great mass, around the dome, along its edge, twelve stirrups were cut in its material. The finished dome of about 520 rises on the ropes with the system of wooden crane around it about 20 meters high, and under it - from heavy stone blows, also brought here from Istria - started about 520 construction of the building. The construction was completed only in 526, after the death of Teodoric.

In the lower part, inside a ten-cubic-shaped building, there is a room on the Greek cross. A sarcophagus was placed in the eastern part, where an antique tub made of red porphyry was adapted. Probably it was the body of Theodoric, which was removed during the Byzantine dominance. Above the ground floor was a higher floor on a circular plan where the chapel was located. The chapel illuminates 11 windows (one in the shape of a Maltese cross). The whole was covered with a dome from one block of limestone. It is possible that such a form of cover refers to Germanic traditions in which the dolmens were covered with huge, placed in a horizontal position with boulders. There are also hypotheses suggesting the decline of the art of building and the lack of the ability to make dome in another technology. Another Germanic feature of this building is the claw ornament used as a frieze below the dome. The lower part of the building is decorated with niches closed with arcades and the upper part is shallow, double niches. Bibliography

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