Ravenna No. 4

INFORMATION

FontID: 08057RAV
Church/Chapel: Chiesa di Santa Eufemia
Church Patron Saints: St. Euphemia
Country Name: Italy
Location: Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna
Directions to Site: Located on via Barbiani
Font Location in Church: inside the church, in the sacristy
Century and Period: 2nd - 3rd century (?), Early Christian
An early-Christian baptismal well or font located now in the sacristy of the 17th-century Chiesa di S. Eufemia in Ravena. The legend claims that a disciple of St. Peter, S. Apollinare, was sent to Ravenna in 46 A.D. and this was the well he used in the first baptisms in Ravenna [NB: contrary to this legend the arrival of St. Apollinar to Ravenna is usually dated between the 2nd and 3rd century] The well cover appears as a polygonal [octagonal?] structure about the size of a standard baptismal font with a cover of about the same height, also polygonal at the base but rounded at the top; this object is located in an alcove of the sacristy; the actual well has natural running water] [source: http://www.turismo.ravenna.it/percorsi/settimana/sette.htm]