What to See in Ravenna, a UNESCO Heritage Site

The city of Ravenna, in Emilia Romagna, holds a treasure: eight religious monuments from the 5th and 6th centuries AD, inscribed by UNESCO on the World Heritage list not only for their artistic refinement but above all for their representation of the city’s history at that time.

Within a span of one hundred and fifty years, Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire, the capital of the Ostrogoths, and the capital of the Byzantine Empire in Europe. Each of these historical moments produced beautiful monuments symbolizing the political and religious messages of the time, mainly expressed through masterful mosaic art that impressed Carl Jung and inspired Gustav Klimt.

Places of Interest in Ravenna: Main Monuments

Ravenna, Capital of the Western Roman Empire

In 402, Emperor Honorius decided to move the imperial residence from Milan, which was too exposed to invasion risks by the Visigoths of Alaric, to Ravenna, which thus became, in fact, the capital of the Western Roman Empire. The city experienced significant expansion during this period; its provincial appearance changed radically and its bishop became metropolitan. From this period date the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia and the Neonian Baptistery.

1 Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia was an imperial funerary monument, probably built to bury Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius and regent of the Western Empire for her son Valentinian III. As in all Ravenna’s early Christian monuments, the exterior is very simple and undecorated brickwork, contrasting with the splendor and richness of the interior mosaic decoration whose subjects develop, on multiple interpretative levels, the theme of victory of eternal life over death. The dominant color is blue, which forms the background of the starry sky in the dome and the floral decorations that frame the lunettes. In one of them is the depiction of the Good Shepherd, a subject widespread in popular catacomb art but here in one of the first monumental representations. The Good Shepherd wears imperial garments, highlighting the similarity between the sovereign and God.

2 Neonian Baptistery

The mosaics of the Neonian Baptistery are a hymn to life, with the Baptism of Christ as the main scene. Here, the mastery in using mosaic tesserae manages to even depict the transparency of the water of the Jordan River.

Ravenna, Ostrogothic Capital

In Ravenna, in 476, the king of the Heruli, Odoacer, deposed Emperor Romulus Augustulus. This date conventionally marks the end of the Western Roman Empire and the beginning of the Middle Ages. In 488, the king of the Ostrogoths, Theodoric, was commissioned by Zenon, Eastern Roman Emperor, to overthrow Odoacer. After a long siege of Ravenna, Theodoric finally emerged victorious in 493 and the city became the Ostrogothic capital. In religious matters, Theodoric was a follower of Arianism, the doctrine condemned during the Council of Nicaea, which maintained a substantial inferiority of Christ’s divine nature compared to God’s. However, he adopted a policy of détente towards Christians and Jews.

3 Archiepiscopal Chapel

The Archiepiscopal Chapel, dating from 495 and commissioned by Bishop Peter II, is a celebration of orthodox Christianity. The main mosaic depicts Christ the warrior crushing the beasts of Arian heresy: it is a clear message against Theodoric’s religious ideology, which was nevertheless tolerated by the ruler.

4 Saint Apollinaris Nuovo

Conversely, the church of Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, renamed Saint Apollinaris Nuovo when in the 9th century the relics of Saint Apollinaris were transferred there from the homonymous basilica of Classe, was originally founded as Theodoric’s palatine church and therefore consecrated to Arianism. For this reason, with the subsequent Byzantine conquest of Ravenna, it was reconsecrated to orthodox Christian worship and the lower mosaics of the central nave walls were significantly modified by Bishop Agnellus. The subject consists of two processions, respectively of Holy Martyrs and Holy Virgins. Their style is typical of Byzantine art: the figures are repetitive and lack individual features, perspective and support plane are missing, so they appear floating on a monochrome and flat background. On the sides of the two processions, some architectural elements geographically locate the composition: on the left side of the procession of the Holy Virgins is depicted the port of Classe, with three ships vertically aligned to give a “bird’s eye” sense of perspective.

On the right side of the procession of the Holy Martyrs is the palace of Theodoric where the figures that were supposed to appear among the arches of the portico (certainly the king with his court) are condemned to damnatio memoriae and replaced with some white tents.

5 Baptistery of the Arians

The Baptistery of the Arians, octagonal in plan, stands in ideological opposition to the Neonian Baptistery, which is also called the “Baptistery of the Orthodox.” It is the only baptistery known in Italy deliberately built for Arian worship. The surface area of its mosaic decoration is smaller than that of the Neonian Baptistery. The main subject is the same (the Baptism of Christ), but the figures are generally more flattened and simplified. The background is no longer blue but golden, following a trend aimed at making the figures more abstract and symbolic, flooded by otherworldly light. Identifying Arian elements in the baptistery requires considerable interpretive skill of the symbols. For example, in the depiction of the etimasia, the empty throne to be occupied by Christ on the day of final judgment, his divine insignia (the alpha and omega) are absent, replaced by a shroud, signifying his human nature, consistent with Arian doctrine. The Baptistery of the Arians was built by the Gothic king Theodoric (493-526) as the baptistery of the ancient Arian Cathedral, now the Church of the Holy Spirit. It was later reconciled to orthodox worship during the time of Archbishop Agnellus, as an oratory dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

6 Mausoleum of Theodoric

The Mausoleum of Theodoric is unique compared to the other contemporary monuments: it is built from Aurisina stone rather than bricks, as a tribute to Diocletian’s palace in Split, and has no mosaic decorations. Its roof is made from a single stone block nearly eleven meters in diameter. Inside is a red porphyry tub, originally the king’s sarcophagus. The Mausoleum of Theodoric was erected around 520 AD, while King Theodoric was still alive, in the Gothic burial area. The decagonal structure, made of large squared Aurisina stone blocks, consists of two superimposed cells. The upper, recessed level is topped by a circular cornice with a decorative frieze. The monument is covered by a monolith of exceptional size, with twelve double-slope modillions.

Ravenna, Byzantine Capital

When Justinian became Eastern Emperor, he sought to reclaim the Western lands that had meanwhile fallen to barbarian hands, including Ostrogothic Italy. He therefore engaged in the so-called Gothic War which, by the mid-6th century, secured him control of the peninsula. Ravenna became the capital once again, and to strengthen the city’s power, Justinian established the office of archbishop, appointing his trusted man Massimianus. Ravenna remained Byzantine until 751, when it was conquered by the Lombards.

7 Church of San Vitale

Massimianus completed the Church of San Vitale, a masterpiece of early Christian Ravenna art. The church consists of several geometric blocks juxtaposed (the central body, the apse, and the lantern), particularly evident when viewing the building from the outside. The interior, however, is surprising: the masses are made light through the addition of apses open with a large number of arches, supported by openwork capitals and pulvini that appear literally to suspend the arches in the air.

The mosaics, where golden backgrounds dominate, along with stuccoes and marbles, create plays of light that further lighten the space, making the visit a unique experience. Among the mosaic depictions stand out those of Justinian and his wife Theodora with their respective courts. The figures are portrayed frontally to convey greater hieratic solemnity, and the compositions strictly follow the hierarchical order of characters. The position of the rulers, their garments, and the surrounding objects emphasize the theocratic value of the empire. References to orthodox Christianity are not missing, particularly the reaffirmation of the Trinity: the Apocalypse’s sky, for example, with its twenty-seven stars (a multiple of three) symbolizes the struggle against heresies.

8 Church of Sant’Apollinare in Classe

A few kilometers from Ravenna is Classe, anciently the city’s port and home to a Roman naval fleet. This locality hosts the Church of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, built to house the relics of Apollinaris, the first bishop of Ravenna. The basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe was consecrated by Archbishop Massimianus in 549 AD. It features a polygonal exterior apse and a circular interior one with prothesis and diaconicon on the sides, plus a high medieval crypt. Its elegant interior with three naves naturally draws the eye toward the apse mosaic, where the saint, in an orant pose, is central in a bucolic landscape.

Above him, the cross inscribed in a blue sky is pointed to by the hand of God emerging from the clouds: once again, an affirmation of the orthodox interpretation of Christ’s divine nature.

The rich mosaic decoration includes the depiction of Saint Apollinaris against a green landscape background in the apse basin and the figures of the four Ravenna bishops in the spaces among the windows (6th century), while in the presbytery are representation of Old Testament sacrifices and the granting of privileges to the church of Ravenna (7th century).

Other Monuments and Museums Not to Miss in Ravenna

9 Palace of Theodoric

The Palace of Theodoric consists of a construction of uncertain interpretation dating from the 7th or 8th centuries; the currently most accredited opinion is that the ruin, consisting of a building with a large portal above which is a wide niche with bifora window, corresponds to the narthex of the church of San Salvatore ad Calchi (whose last phase dates to the 9th-10th centuries). In any case, the building rises in the ancient palatine area, on the remains of the true palace of Theodoric and a previous grand construction. It currently houses inside and under the porch interesting fragments of floor mosaic discovered on site (1st-7th centuries AD).

10 Dante Center of the Conventual Minor Friars

Located in the former San Francesco convent along with the Dante Museum, the collection, opened to the public for the first time in 1990 after the major restoration of the Franciscan cloisters, exhibits a selection of over 500 bronze statuettes and more than 2000 medals and coins representing Dante or Dante-themed subjects; one section is dedicated to Dante illustrations and includes illustrated editions, graphic collections without text, oil and tempera paintings. Of particular importance are the largest and smallest edition of the Divine Comedy and the microcalligraphic one by G. Cossovel (1888).

The second cloister, called “Cassa”, is the exhibition venue of the International Medal Biennial, small Dante sculpture, and Dante-themed art exhibitions curated by the Dante Center. In the large room between the two cloisters on the first floor of the minorite complex is the Center’s library which, founded in 1964 by Father Severino Ragazzini, houses about eleven thousand volumes including manuscripts, incunabula, 16th-century books, and translations of Dante’s work.

11 Dante Museum

The Dante Museum, located in the former San Francesco convent, on the first floor of the 17th-century cloister called “Dante”, next to the Poet’s tomb, decorated with a bas-relief by Pietro Lombardo in 1483, and rebuilt in 1780 by Camillo Morigia. It is divided into two sections curated respectively by the Dante Opera of the Municipality of Ravenna and by the Dante Center of the Conventual Minor Friars. The first, inaugurated in 1921 through the initiative of the Committee for the celebrations of the sixth centenary of Dante’s death coordinated by Corrado Ricci, collects tribute gifts sent in 1908 and 1921, when Gabriele D’Annunzio’s Fiume enterprise had made Dante the symbol of Irredentism, the box that contained the Poet’s bones, as well as the projects awarded at the competition promoted by the Ministry of Public Education in 1921 for the decoration of the interior of the adjacent Basilica of San Francesco.

12 National Museum of Ravenna

The National Museum of Ravenna, established in 1885, has been housed since the early twentieth century in the prestigious premises of the former Benedictine Monastery of San Vitale. The original core of the museum’s holdings consists of collections formed during the 18th century by the Camaldolese monks of Classe and later enriched through donations, acquisitions, discoveries, and excavations. Currently, the museum presents itself as a combination of heterogeneous collections, grouped into three main categories: lapidary, archaeological finds, and art collections. The lapidary, mostly exhibited along the two cloisters of the monastery, consists of an interesting collection of inscriptions and funerary steles and stone artifacts from Roman, early Christian, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque epochs. On the upper floors, mosaics and archaeological materials, mainly from the territory of Classe, and minor art collections are displayed. The collections include bronzes and plaques, ivories, icons, weapons and armor, ceramics. The museum also houses the important cycle of 14th-century frescoes detached from the ancient church of Santa Chiara in Ravenna, a work by Pietro da Rimini.

13 National Museum of Underwater Activities

The National Museum of Underwater Activities was inaugurated in Marina di Ravenna by the “The Historical Diving Society, Italy” in some premises provided by the Municipal Administration. Its purpose is to promote the study of the history of underwater activities through permanent and temporary exhibitions, the organization of conferences, and the publication of informative materials. The various sections include prints from the 1700s and 1800s, dioramas, one of the first Italian decompression chambers, diver and underwater gear, work materials, and equipment for underwater photography. One area is dedicated to the navy and the underwater assault vehicle of the last world conflict, known as the “pig”. It also preserves the original plaster of the statue submerged in the waters of San Fruttuoso in Liguria, depicting the Christ of the Abyss, a work by the sculptor Guido Galletti.

Other recommended museums in Ravenna

• Ancient Port of Classe, Ravenna
• Classense Library, Ravenna
• Domus of the Stone Carpets, Ravenna
• The Puppet House, Ravenna
• Archiepiscopal Museum of Ravenna
• City Art Museum, Ravenna
• Risorgimento Museum of Ravenna
• Territory Educational Museum, Ravenna
• Ravenna Museum of Natural Sciences “Alfredo Brandolini”
• Small Doll and Other Toys Museum, Ravenna
• Ravenna Planetarium
• Dante Alighieri Theatre, Ravenna
• Luigi Rasi Theatre, Ravenna