The church was built as the chapel of Thedoric's palace in 504 AD. It was redecorated as an orthodox church in the time of Justinian and reconsecrated in 561. The principal decoration of the interior are mosaics in three ranks on the north and south walls..The bottom rank on the north wall, seen here, is from the time of Justinian and is a processon of female martyrs. Above them are figures of saints between widnows. At the top rank are scenes from the life of Christ. The two higher ranks are from Theodoric's time.