Aquileia: walking on the largest early Christian mosaic in the West

There are places that ought to have a queue at the entrance and instead stay silent. The Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta in Aquileia, on the plain between Udine and the lagoon, is one of them. Beneath its naves lies the largest early Christian mosaic floor in the West: some 760 square metres of tesserae that today you walk over on glass walkways, suspended between the stone and history.

The mosaic floor

The mosaic belongs to the hall built at the behest of Bishop Theodore at the beginning of the fourth century, after the Edict of 313 had granted Christians freedom of worship. An inscription in the floor still recalls his name. What strikes you is not only the extent, but the language: fish, birds, turtles, the famous fishing scene, allegories that spoke to the faithful of a bygone age and that still speak to anyone who stops to look at them without hurry.

The basilica and the crypts

The basilica we see today was consecrated in 1031, in the time of the Patriarch Poppo, and reworked in the following centuries. Beside it soars the bell tower, over seventy metres tall, a landmark for the whole plain. Beneath the altar, the Crypt of the Frescoes preserves a twelfth-century pictorial cycle; a short distance away, the Crypt of the Excavations lets you read layers of Roman and early Christian history beneath your feet.

Aquileia was one of the great cities of the Roman Empire, and today it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998. Yet the flow of visitors remains modest, especially outside the peak months. You can enter, sit down, look up and listen to the sound of your own footsteps: a rare privilege in Italy. Those seeking the mosaics of Ravenna will find here something different and just as powerful, without the crush.

When to go

It's best to arrive in spring or autumn, when the light is soft and the surrounding countryside can be explored on foot or by bike along the cycle routes. One morning is enough for the basilica and the crypts; the afternoon for the archaeological area and the Roman forum. And if you stay until evening, the lagoon of Grado is just a handful of kilometres away.

Related guides: Unusual Friuli Venezia Giulia: hidden villages and little-known places · Little-known archaeological sites in Italy: the guide to off-route places · Alternatives to Venice: cities and villages on the water far from the crush.

How to get there

By car you leave the A4 motorway at the Palmanova exit and continue along the regional road towards Aquileia and Grado. The nearest railway station is Cervignano-Aquileia-Grado, a few kilometres from the centre and connected to the town by local buses. The reference airport is Trieste, at Ronchi dei Legionari, not far from the town.