Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

This 5th-century chapel is so unpretentious that you'll think you're in the wrong place. But inside it contains some exceptional mosaics dating from antiquity, though they might not look it. Translucent panels bring the mosaics alive in all their grace and harmony, vivid with peacock blue, moss green, Roman gold, eggplant, and burnt orange. The mosaics in the cupola literally glitter with stars. Popular tradition claims that the cross-shaped structure houses the tomb of Galla Placidia, sister of Honorius, Rome's last emperor. Galla, who died in Rome in A.D. 450, is one of history's most powerful women. She became virtual ruler of the Western world after her husband, Ataulf, king of the Visigoths, died (when she was named regent for Valentinian III, who was only 6 at the time of his father's death).

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