SAN VITALE 

     The purpose of the church was to, of course, be a place of worship. San Vitale was a functioning church of orthodox tradition.

     It also serves as a burial place for bishops Ecclesius, Ursicinus, and Victor. All three of them are said to have been buried to the right of the presbytery in the chapel. Mainly, the church was a dedication to Vitalis, a martyr of Ravenna. The church was actually allegedly built on the spot where there had been a previous sacred place dedicated to Saint Vitalis. Seeing as this place was sacred and connected to Saint Vitalis, it is possible that the location was connected to his actual martyrdom, possibly the approximate location of his death. It is very probable that San Vitale was an expansion of a smaller church that had previously been dedicated to Saint Vitalis. Evidence for this would include the building of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, where Justinian had done the same thing.