Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, to celebrate his victory against Odoacer in 493, moved to Ravenna and built his palace and this church... Today Ravenna preserves as many as eight monuments included in the #UNESCO World Heritage List... #tuttitaly
The Basilica of Santa Apollinare Nuova was built at the end of the 5th century at the behest of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths who, after his victory against Odoacer, moved to Ravenna in 493, and had his palace and church built here.
In 540, when the Byzantines entered Ravenna, the king's ancient palatine chapel underwent a radical transformation. At the time of Archbishop Agnello (556-569), the Arian rite basilica was reconciled to the Catholic liturgy and dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, the enemy of the Arian heretics.
Shortly before 1137, the Benedictine monks, who settled in the basilica, spread the rumor that the relics of the patron saint of Ravenna would be transferred from the sepulchral basilica of Sant 'Apollinare in Classe to the crypt of their church for fear of the raids of the Saracen pirates. Thus began the contrasts between the two religious orders, then between the Benedictine monastery of San Martino dedicated to Sant'Apollinare Nuovo and the Camaldolese one in Classe.
Therefore, in 1173 Pope Alexander III sent the papal legate to Ravenna to resolve the question. The mystery was solved: the saint's remains were kept in a coffin inside the crypt of Sant 'Apollinare in Classe.
Despite this, at the beginning of the 16th century, in the basilica of Sant 'Apollinare Nuovo, at the bottom of the left aisle, a chapel was still built today called "Delle Reliquie." It testifies to the presumed presence of the remains of the first bishop of Ravenna.
In Sant 'Apollinare Nuovo, the proto-bishop is represented in a countenance similar to that found in Classe: the face covered with a beard and white hair with a large tonsure. The difference, compared to the mosaic image of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, consists in the open white robe that the saint wears and the golden crown studded with precious stones that he holds in his hand, which symbolizes the glory and martyrdom that highlight the golden atmosphere of the heavenly garden of the righteous, to which Apollinare belongs.
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