The Very First Baptistry

Spring is just the main character of the life in Italy, we had more than a week of the relatively sunny days, and all the institutions awoke after the letargy of the winter inactivity. In Naples, there are different and very interesting exhibitions, an entire bunch, that are connected to the week of the culture, when the entrance in all the national museums is gratis.

I wanted to visit the castles situating over the city but the weather was not too good and I decided that the most wise way is to stay in the museums that morning. So, the itinerary was urgently changed just in the car and I had to visit the Museum of the Treasure of San Gennaro (here is the photo of the best piece-the mitre http://www.museosangennaro.it/ )

The actual Dom is built near one of two antique doms of the city, that is actually called Basilica of S. Restituta. Very beautiful and unique building that was created in IV cent. (!) Today, it practically has not the traces of that initial sanctuary.



The right part of the Basilica has an interestiong mosaic inspired, I think, by the mosaics of Constantinople, created in 1322.



On the left, you can find access to the most antique Baptistry (in Europe). It was built at the end of IV century and has unique, literally, mosaics that no one other site has. The Baptistery is actually opened for the visits after many years of important restaurations.



What is interesting in this site that the capitals of the columns are not from the Roman villas -that is usual- but they have signs of the cross and other christian symbols.

The catechumen had to rise his eyes to the god during the christening and could see all these signs over him.

Here are some photos of the mosaics.