with the basilica behind. The most ancient edifices built by the Lombards in Italy, and in particular in their capital
Pavia, have been destroyed or largely renewed in later times. Some trends, which usually ran in different ways from the
Roman and Palaeo-Christian architectures predominant in Italy up to late Antiquity, have been identified from archaeological studies or other sources. The destroyed church of Santa Maria in Pertica at Pavia, for example, had a typical Roman plan (octagonal with an
ambulatory delimited by columns) but its very high central body was a novelty. The
Baptistery of San Giovanni ad Fontes in
Lomello, also departed from the typical Palaeo-Christian compactness in the use of a tall central octagon. As it had been in Roman times, the commission of lay and religious buildings was used by the Lombard elite to express their prestige and to legitimate their authority. In the 7th and 8th centuries, the Lombard architecture evolved in an original direction, with increasing references to Classical architecture. This trend, characterized by the co-presence of different influences and the adoption of new techniques, culminated in the reign of king
Liutprand (712–744), in particular at
Cividale del Friuli. Edifices such as the Lombard Tempietto in the latter city, or the
Monastery of San Salvatore at
Brescia show echoes of the contemporary architecture in
Ravenna. In this period, the construction of monasteries received a particular impulse, not only as places of adoration or as shows of faith of the commissioners, but also as shelters for the latter's assets and persons and as sites of political control. King
Desiderius (756–774), and with him numerous dukes, gave a particular boost to this trend, which had no direct comparison in the rest of Europe at the time. The development of Lombard architecture in northern Italy was halted by the conquest of
Charlemagne in 774. In southern Italy, still partly under effective Lombard domination, architecture followed original lines until the conquest by the
Normans in the 11th century. This unity is shown in particular by the most important Lombard edifice in what was
Langobardia Minor, the church of
Santa Sofia at
Benevento: built in the 8th century, it follows the same pattern of Santa Maria in Pertica with an elevated central body, although mitigated by
Byzantine elements such as the articulations of the volumes and the basic structure itself, perhaps inspired by
Hagia Sophia at
Constantinople. When they arrived in Italy in the late 6th century, the Lombards had no architectural tradition of their own. They thus relied on local workforce, taking advantage of the presence of organizations and guilds capable of high level works, which had been kept alive thanks to the relative survival of the urban civilization in Italy after the fall of the
Western Roman Empire (differently from most of contemporary Christian western Europe). ==List of structures==