Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

From outside it looks like nothing much: a cross-shaped brick chapel, half-buried, in the garden of San Vitale. It was built in the first half of the 5th century, in the time of Galla Placidia, daughter of Emperor Theodosius and regent of the Western Empire. It was probably never her tomb (she died in Rome in 450), but the name has stuck.

As soon as you enter, your eyes need to adjust to the dim light, and then it all appears: the night-blue dome covered with golden stars with a cross at the centre, the symbols of the four evangelists in the corners, the apostles raising their arms towards heaven. Above the entrance, the Good Shepherd seated among his sheep; opposite, Saint Lawrence running towards the gridiron.

Light enters through windows closed with thin slabs of alabaster, which make it warm and golden. These are the oldest mosaics in Ravenna to have come down to us so complete, still close to Roman art: soft colours, figures with volume, doves drinking from a fountain.

It is one of the city's eight UNESCO monuments. The space is tiny and you enter in small groups at your booked time: buy it together with the combined ticket and keep it as your last stop on the San Vitale visit.