Aquileia: 760 square meters of 4th-century mosaic

Aquileia's basilica floor covers more than 760¹ square meters, laid between 313¹ and 320¹ under Bishop Theodore, and it is the largest Early Christian mosaic in the West.

More than 760 square meters, laid 313 to 320

The mosaic floor of the basilica exceeds 760¹ square meters and was laid between 313¹ and 320¹ under Bishop Theodore, in what is now called the Theodorian hall. The basilica standing over it was consecrated in 1031¹ by Patriarch Poppo.

That gap, seven centuries between floor and walls, is the thing to hold in your head once inside. The church is medieval. The floor under your feet is from the early 4th century.

A word on the area figure: the Fondazione Aquileia site did not answer the addresses tried, and the UNESCO page refuses automated reading, so the 760¹ comes from a secondary source.

UNESCO since 1998, crypts and a 73-meter tower

Aquileia has been a World Heritage site since 1998 as the Archaeological Area and the Patriarchal Basilica. The complex has two crypts, the Crypt of the Frescoes and the Crypt of the Excavations with more Early Christian mosaics, and a bell tower 73 meters high.

The two sources in our records disagree on the frescoed crypt. The ticket office dates it to the 9th century, another record gives the 12th. Neither is repeated here as settled.

€12 covers the whole complex, bar the tower

One adult ticket at €12 covers the basilica with its 4th-century mosaics, the Crypt of the Frescoes, the north Theodorian hall, the baptistery with the Südhalle, the episcopal domus and palace, and the Domus di Tito Macro. Groups of 15 or more pay €9 each, and secondary school groups go free.

The bell tower is not on that list, and its price is not published anywhere we could read.

Hours that depend on who you ask

The ticket office publishes three timetables. April to September: Monday to Friday 10 am to 7 pm, Saturday 10 am to 6 pm, Sunday noon to 7 pm. March and October: Monday to Saturday 10 am to 6 pm, Sunday noon to 6 pm. November to February: weekdays 10 am to 4 pm, Saturday to 5 pm, Sunday noon to 5 pm.

Other sources give a 9 am opening in summer. The one pattern everyone agrees on is the late Sunday start, so a Sunday morning arrival is the one to avoid.

Palmanova, founded 1593, on the same UNESCO map

Palmanova, founded by the Republic of Venice in 1593³, is the only planned town still intact in its nine-pointed star shape, and it has been part of a UNESCO serial site since July 9, 2017.

Friuli holds both ends of the story: the Early Christian floor here, and the Venetian military plan there, more than twelve centuries apart. More at Palmanova, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and UNESCO sites in Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

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