Aquileia and its Basilica
The largest mosaic floor in the Western world
A few kilometres from the Adriatic coast and the lagoon of Grado, Aquileia is today a small village among the fields, but two thousand years ago it was one of the largest and richest cities of the Roman Empire, with perhaps 100,000 inhabitants. Founded as a Roman colony in 181 BC, it was an important military base, a great river port and commercial centre, the starting point of the roads towards the Danube and the East, and later one of the main centres of early Christianity, seat of the powerful Patriarchate of Aquileia. Destroyed by Attila in 452, it never recovered its splendour, and this has preserved its extraordinary archaeological heritage, recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1998.
Its treasure is the Basilica Patriarcale, rebuilt in the eleventh century in Romanesque style with a tall bell tower, which preserves on its floor the largest early Christian mosaic in the Western world, about 760 square metres, created in the fourth century, shortly after the Edict of Constantine of 313 that granted freedom of worship to Christians. The mosaic, discovered at the beginning of the twentieth century and now visible from glass walkways, depicts with great vivacity marine scenes with fish and fishermen, the story of Jonah swallowed by the sea monster, animals, portraits of donors and Christian symbols. Under the church, the Cripta degli Affreschi preserves twelfth-century frescoes, and the Cripta degli Scavi other mosaics. In the village, you can also visit the remains of the forum, the river port, houses with mosaics and the rich Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
Tip: allow at least half a day; buy the combined ticket for the basilica, the crypts and the bell tower.
Where it is
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