Mausoleum of Theodoric

On the edge of the old town, set in a small park by the road, stands one of the strangest and most imposing buildings in Italy. The Mausoleum of Theodoric is a squat, two-storey monument built of pale Istrian limestone blocks, laid without mortar and crowned with a single dome carved from one enormous slab of stone. The dome measures around ten metres across and is thought to weigh about 230 tonnes, which means it was dragged or floated across the Adriatic from quarries on the Istrian coast and lifted into place. Nothing else in Ravenna looks like it. Where the churches are brick and mosaic, this is raw stone, with a frieze of pincer-shaped decoration around the dome and ten sides that echo Gothic metalwork. The king built it for himself in his lifetime, and it is the most dramatic reminder that the city was once the capital of a Gothic kingdom.

The structure has two levels. The lower floor is a ten-sided room with deep arched niches and a simple cross-shaped chamber, where the king's body was likely placed. The upper floor, reached by a modern stair, holds a circular room with a large porphyry bath, thought to have been used as the sarcophagus, though it was empty by the time the building was studied.

Standing under the monolithic dome, you feel its weight in a way that photographs do not convey. A circular hole at the apex and decorative lugs around the rim are puzzles that scholars still debate. The building has survived centuries of change: it became a chapel, then a fortification, and it now sits some distance from the sea because the shoreline has moved.

Theodoric himself is a fascinating figure. Born an Ostrogoth, he was raised in Constantinople, ruled Italy from 493 to 526 and presented himself as heir to Roman tradition. His reign saw Ravenna thrive with new churches, palaces and aqueducts. The tomb mixes Roman building techniques with Gothic motifs and sets him in stone for ever. Visitors often describe the mausoleum as feeling closer to a fortress than a church, and the comparison is fair.

The visit is brief, around twenty to thirty minutes including the small grounds, and it is a natural pairing with the Pineta di Classe or the Classe museum because all three lie on the same side of town. It is part of the UNESCO set, so combined tickets may include it; check what your pass covers. Cyclists reach it in a few minutes from the centre. Bring a camera for the dome and the open lawn setting, which gives the best views of the stone.