Ravenna - Tomb of Theodoric

750m/825yd east of the Porta Serrata (at the north end of the Via di Roma) is the Tomb of Theodoric, built about 520, probably on the order of Theodoric himself. This is a monumental two-story rotunda built in square blocks of Istrian limestone and roofed with a single huge block 11m/12yd in diameter. The tomb is reminiscent of Syrian rather than Roman models. The ornamentation shows clear Germanic influence. The lower floor is a barrel-vaulted chamber in the form of a Greek cross, on the upper floor is an antique porphyry sarcophagus.