Ravenna - San Francesco

Already Bishop Neon had a church built here in the 5th century, but the church got largely rebuilt around 1000. Neon´s tomb was discovered under the floor of the choir in the 19th century.

Archbishop Fontana gave the basilica to the Franciscans (= "Order of Friars Minor") in 1261. The monks then dedicated the church to San Francesco (aka "Francesco d'Assisi", "Francis of Assisi"), who had founded the order just about 50 years earlier.

The interior of the basilica got significantly altered during the 17th and 18th century.

During the excavations end of the 19th century, the crypt of the first church was found and unearthed. It still has original mosaic floor. As the church was erected in soft ground, the crypt was sunken into the ground and got overbuilt arounnd 1000. Today it is under the groundwater level and small goldfish populate the crypt and float over the mosaics.