Battistero Neoniano

It was built between the late 4th and early 5th century by Bishop Ursus, next to the cathedral, as the baptistery for Catholics. Bishop Neon, in the mid-5th century, had it decorated with the mosaics and stuccoes you see today, and it takes its name from him.

Look up: at the centre of the dome, John the Baptist pours water over Christ's head, immersed up to his waist in the Jordan, and beside him the river itself is an old man with a reed in his hand. Around them, against a blue background, the twelve apostles walk in a circle with crowns in their hands, dressed in gold and white.

Lower down, between the windows, stuccoes with prophets and decorations in reused marble. The building is octagonal, like all ancient baptisteries: eight like the day of resurrection, the day after the seventh.

It is one of the eight UNESCO monuments and is part of the Curia cumulative ticket, with entry at a booked time. It is a stone's throw from the Duomo and the Museo Arcivescovile: visit them together.