The Mausoleum of Theodoric () is an ancient monument just outside Ravenna, Italy. It was built in AD 520 by Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, as his future tomb.

Description

The mausoleum's current structure consists of two decagonal orders, one above the other, made of Istrian stone sourced from a quarry approximately away by land journey. The mausoleum's roof consists of a single carved stone in diameter weighing 230 tonnes. A niche leads down to a room that was probably a chapel for funeral liturgies; an external stair leads to the upper floor. Located in the centre of the upper floor is a fragmentary ancient Roman porphyry tub, likely from a bath complex, in which Theodoric was buried. His remains were removed during Byzantine rule, when the mausoleum was turned into a Christian oratory. In the late 19th century, silting from a nearby rivulet that had partly submerged the mausoleum was drained and excavated.

Recognition

It was inscribed with seven other "Early Christian Monuments and Mosaics of Ravenna" buildings as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1996. According to the ICOMOS evaluation, "the significance of the mausoleum lies in its Gothic style and decoration, which owe nothing to Roman or Byzantine art, although it makes use of the Roman stone construction technique of opus quadratum, which had been abandoned four centuries before" and in the fact that "it is the only surviving example of a tomb of a king of this period."

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File:Ravenna Mausoleum of Theoderic inside lower level.jpg|Inside lower level

File:Ravenna Mausoleum of Theoderic inside top2 wideangle.jpg|Inside top level

File:Ravenna Mausoleum of Theoderic inside top cracked roof stone.jpg|Inside top level with cracked roof stone

File:Ravenna Mausoleum of Theoderic inside top wideangle.jpg|Inside top level

File:Mausoleo di teodorico, interno, camera superiore, sarcofago di teodorico, in porfido, 520 dc ca. 04.jpg|Porphyry tub used by Theodoric as sarcophagus

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See also

  • Ostrogothic Ravenna
  • Palace of Theodoric now lost, also in Ravenna
  • Sparlösa Runestone
  • Haus Potsdam
  • Early medieval domes

References

Further reading

  • Weitzmann, Kurt, ed., Age of spirituality: late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century, no. 109, 1979, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, ; full text available online from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
  • Ravenna Turismo Timetable and information for visiting the mausoleum and other Ravenna monuments, in Italian, English and German.
  • Original text adopted from [https://web.archive.org/web/20030415212555/http://www.turismo.ravenna.it/eng/monumenti/616.htm]. No copyright notice has been found on the site so far. Please remove the text and the photo if you find one.
  • Revolving image of the upper floor. The dark color tub appears at the lower corner.
  • Download a free paper model of Theoderic's Mausoleum (www.papermodel.cz)