The Roman church famous for its ninth-century gold mosaics and Saint Zeno Chapel is Santa Prassede.
Pope Paschal I rebuilt and richly decorated Santa Prassede in the early ninth century. The church’s mosaics use luminous gold backgrounds and present Christ, apostles, saints, and biblical figures in a style strongly connected with Byzantine artistic traditions.
The small Chapel of Saint Zeno, built as part of the rebuilding campaign, is particularly celebrated for its mosaic decoration. It is sometimes called a “garden of paradise” because of the brilliance and density of its imagery.
Santa Prassede is a Roman basilica rather than a Byzantine church located in the Byzantine Empire. Its architecture and decoration nevertheless preserve important evidence of Byzantine artistic influence in medieval Rome. It is often confused with Santa Maria Maggiore, another major Roman basilica with famous mosaics.