Province Province of Ravenna Architectural style Gothic architecture Burials Theoderic the Great | Function Mausoleum Phone +39 0544 684020 | |
 | ||
Address Via delle Industrie, 14, 48122 Ravenna RA, Italy Hours Closed now Wednesday8:30AM–6:30PMThursday8:30AM–6:30PMFriday8:30AM–6:30PMSaturday8:30AM–6:30PMSunday8:30AM–6:30PMMonday8:30AM–6:30PMTuesday8:30AM–6:30PM Similar Arian Baptistery, Ravenna Baptistery of Neon, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe | ||
Ravenna baptisteries and the mausoleum of theodoric
The Mausoleum of Theoderic (Italian: Mausoleo di Teodorico) is an ancient monument just outside Ravenna, Italy. It was built in 520 AD by Theoderic the Great as his future tomb.
Contents
Description
The current structure of the mausoleum is divided into two decagonal orders, one above the other; both are made of Istria stone. Its roof is a single 300–ton Istrian stone, 10 meters in diameter. A niche leads down to a room that was probably a chapel for funeral liturgies; a stair leads to the upper floor. Located in the centre of the floor is a circular porphyry stone grave, in which Theoderic 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.
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."
An approximate replica of this tomb was constructed in the USA in 1925 when the Taplin Gorge Dam was constructed north of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. The designer (Vernon Wright who was also the president of the dam's owner - the Otter Tail Power Company) based the design of the powerhouse on this mausoleum.