Five things you can do in Ravenna

From this month, we will introduce you to some of the places around the region. Cities and monuments that you can easily visit in one day.

Wherever you are, Romagna gives you the chance to move along and across, in a very short time. Both with public ways (trains and buses) and with your own car, which you can hire at the airport, at you arrival.

Small and medium towns, such as Ravenna that are a real treasure of hidden gems to enjoy and to share. The Italy of the unveiled off the beaten path itineraries that offers new suggestions far from the crowd of the big touristic towns.

Ravenna: golden lights of mosaics

Ravenna's astounding mosaics are a wonder you cannot miss. When Bizantium had its capital in Ravenna, artists used glass pieces instead of paintings to express their art. Eight of the town's early Christian buildings have UnescoWorld Heritage listing, mainly for the wonderfully well preserved mosaics, decorating walls and floors.

1 San Vitale

The Church of San Vitale was begun by the Goths and finished by the Byzantines in 547AD). Vivid images of the superstars of their day, the Emperor Justinian and the Empress Theodora, with crown and jewels, blaze out of the distant past, alongside Old Testament scenes.

2 Galla Placidia

She was the sister of Roman emperor Honorius, who had transferred the Capital of the Western Empire from Milan to Ravenna in 402 AD. This building with a Greek cross plan around 425-450 was built as her own resting place. However, the mausoleum was never used for that purpose, because the empress died and was buried in Rome in 450.

3 Sant' Apollinare Nuovo

The church rounds off the tour with more outstanding mosaics. The Basilica was built by Theoderic (493-526) next to his palace and was originally used as a Palatine Church of Arian religion. After the Byzantine reconquest, the Basilica was dedicated to St. Martin, bishop of Tours. Following the tradition, in 9th century the relics of St. Apollinaris were removed from the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe and transported here. On that occasion, the church was dedicated to Saint Apollinaris and called “Nuovo” (new) in order to differentiate it from the church of the same name in Classe.

4 Eating in Ravenna

Ravenna is a good place to enjoy Romagna food. Ca’ de Ven is for sure the best place to start with but you can also enjoy Antica Trattoria al Gallo, quite near to the monuments area, for a high standard traditional meal and good local wines.

5.Dante’s path

Dante's tomb is a quiet, restrained resting place for the author of The Divine Comedy. Don't miss the little oil lamp hanging above the tomb. It burns permanently, paid for by the city of Florence in penance for ejecting the poet in 1372.

In a small garden next door is the mound where his remains were temporarily buried in 1944, as protection from possible Allied bombing. In the adjoining square of San Francisco, a plaque marks the house where Lord Byron lived and worked in 1819 and 1820.

Info

Some of the main buildings can be visited with a single ticket or with the Romagna Visit Card. (www.romagnavisitcard.it/en). For more info please visit http://www.turismo.ra.it/eng