Ravenna is well known for its mesmerising mosaics. However, the Northern Adriatic coast has two more World Heritage Sites, and many smaller places showcasing incredible mosaics. For centuries, Aquileia hid the largest early Christian mosaic in Europe, used to explain the basics of the new religion to neophytes. In Poreč mosaics, a Byzantine Madonna triumphantly sits on the throne above the altar – perhaps for the first times in the history of Christianity.

These mosaics have great aesthetic beauty and story-telling powers. They also bear witness to the centuries of people and culture mixing, and power struggles in the first Christian millennium. The lecture explains their key themes and iconology, as well as their function within their socio-political background.