What to See in Ravenna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

La ciudad de Rávena, en Emilia Romaña, guarda un tesoro: se trata de ocho monumentos religiosos de los siglos V y VI d.C., inscritos por la UNESCO en la lista de patrimonio de la humanidad no solo por su refinamiento artístico, sino sobre todo por ser representativos de la historia de la ciudad en ese periodo.

En un lapso de ciento cincuenta años, de hecho, Rávena será la capital del imperio romano de Occidente, la capital de los ostrogodos y la capital del imperio bizantino en Europa. Cada uno de estos momentos históricos produjo monumentos bellísimos y simbólicos de los mensajes políticos y religiosos contemporáneos, narrados principalmente a través de un uso magistral del arte del mosaico que impresionó a Carl Jung e inspiró a 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, excessively exposed to the danger of invasions 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 appearance as a provincial town changed drastically 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 the early Christian monuments of Ravenna, the very simple, unadorned brick exterior contrasts with the splendor and richness of the internal mosaic decoration, whose subjects develop, on multiple interpretive levels, the theme of the victory of eternal life over death. The dominant color is blue, which forms the background of the starry sky on the dome and the floral decorations framing the lunettes. In one of these is the representation of the Good Shepherd, a subject widely found in popular catacomb art but here one of the first monumental representations. The Good Shepherd wears imperial robes, highlighting the similarity between the ruler 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 skillful use of mosaic tesserae even manages to depict the transparency of the waters 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, the Eastern Roman Emperor, to overthrow Odoacer. After a long siege of Ravenna, Theodoric finally emerged victorious in 493 and the city thus 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 that of God. However, he adopted a policy of détente towards Christians and Jews.

3 Archiepiscopal Chapel

The Archiepiscopal Chapel, from 495, 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 is nevertheless tolerated by the ruler.

4 San Apollinare Nuovo

Conversely, the church of Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, renamed San Apollinare Nuovo when in the 9th century the relics of Saint Apollinaris were transferred there from the homonymous basilica in Classe, was originally built 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 mosaics on the lower band of the walls of the central nave were significantly modified by Bishop Agnellus. The subject consists of two processions, respectively of Holy Martyrs and Holy Virgins. Their style is that typical of Byzantine art: the figures are repetitive and without individual characterizations, lacking perspective and ground plane, so they appear to float on a monochrome and flat background. On the sides of the two processions are some architectural elements that geographically locate the composition: on the left side of the procession of the Holy Virgins is depicted the port of Classe, with three ships aligned vertically to give a bird’s-eye perspective.

On the right side of the procession of the Holy Martyrs appears Theodoric’s palace, where the figures that were supposed to appear between the arches of the portico (surely the king with his court) undergo damnatio memoriae and are replaced by some white curtains.

5 Arian Baptistery

The Arian Baptistery, octagonal in plan, ideologically contrasts with the Neonian Baptistery, also called the “Orthodox” Baptistery. It is the only known baptistery in Italy built specifically for Arian worship. The surface 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 flatter and more simplified. The background is no longer blue but golden, according to a trend aiming to make the figures more abstract and symbolic, bathed in an otherworldly light. Identifying the elements of Arianism in the baptistery requires considerable interpretative ability of symbols. For example, in the representation of the etimasia—i.e., the empty throne to be occupied by Christ on Judgment Day—his divine insignia (the alpha and omega) are absent, replaced by a shroud, a sign of his human nature, consistent with Arian doctrine. The Arian Baptistery was built by the Gothic king Theodoric (493-526) as the baptistery of the ancient Arian Cathedral, today 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 other contemporary monuments: it is constructed from Aurisina stone rather than bricks, as a tribute to Diocletian’s palace in Split, and it does not feature mosaic decorations. The roof is made from a single block of stone nearly eleven meters in diameter. Inside is a red porphyry tub, originally the sarcophagus of the ruler. The Mausoleum of Theodoric was erected around 520 AD while King Theodoric was still alive, in the Gothic burial area. The decagonal construction, in large squared blocks of Aurisina stone, consists of two stacked 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-pitched brackets.

Ravenna, Byzantine Capital

When Justinian became emperor of the East, he wanted to reconquer the lands of the West that had meanwhile fallen into the hands of barbarians, including Ostrogothic Italy. He thus began the so-called Gothic War which, by the mid-6th century, ensured his control of the peninsula. Ravenna again became the capital and, to strengthen the city’s power, Justinian established the figure of the archbishop, appointing his trusted man Maximian to this role. Ravenna remained Byzantine until 751, when it was conquered by the Lombards.

7 Church of San Vitale

Maximian completed the Church of San Vitale, a masterpiece of Ravenna’s early Christian art. The church is composed of various geometric blocks juxtaposed (the central body, the apse, and the lantern), particularly visible when admiring the building from the outside. The interior, however, is surprising: the masses are made light through the addition of apses opened by a large number of arches, supported by perforated capitals and pulvini that seem literally to suspend the arches in air.

The mosaics, dominated by golden backgrounds, along with stuccos and marble create light plays 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 give more hieratic dignity and the compositions strictly follow the hierarchical order of the characters. The position of the rulers, their clothing, and the surrounding objects emphasize the theocratic value of the empire. References to orthodox Christianity are not lacking, particularly the reaffirmation of the Trinity: the sky of the Apocalypse, for example, with its twenty-seven stars (a multiple of three) is a symbol of the fight against heresies.

8 Church of Sant’Apollinare in Classe

A few kilometers from Ravenna lies Classe, formerly the city’s port and the seat of a Roman naval fleet. The location 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 Maximian in 549 AD. It features a polygonal apse externally and circular internally with prothesis and diaconicon on the sides, and a early medieval crypt. Its elegant three-nave interior naturally leads the gaze toward the apse mosaic, in which the saint, posed as an orant, is at the center of a bucolic landscape.

Above him, the cross inscribed in a blue sky is indicated 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 representation of Saint Apollinaris against a verdant landscape in the apse’s basin and the figures of the four Ravennese bishops in the spaces between the windows (6th century), while in the presbytery are depicted the sacrifices of the Old Testament and the granting of privileges to the church of Ravenna (7th century).

Other monuments and museums not to be missed in Ravenna

9 Palace of Theodoric

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

10 Dante Center of the Conventual Franciscan Friars

Located in the former convent of San Francesco together with the Dante Museum, the collection, first opened to the public in 1990 after the extensive restoration of the Franciscan cloisters, displays a selection of over 500 bronze sculptures and more than 2000 medals and coins representing Dante or Dantean themes; 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 editions of the Divine Comedy and the microcalligraphic work by G. Cossovel (1888).

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

11 Dante Museum

The Dante Museum is located in the former convent of San Francesco, 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 respectively curated by the Opera di Dante of the Municipality of Ravenna and the Dante Center of the Conventual Franciscan Friars. The first, inaugurated in 1921 by the initiative of the Committee for the celebrations of the sixth centenary of the death of Dante, coordinated by Corrado Ricci, collects the tributes sent in 1908 and in 1921, when the D’Annunzian enterprise of Fiume had made Dante the symbol of Irredentism, the box that contained the Poet’s bones, as well as the awarded projects at the competition called 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 building of the former Benedictine monastery of San Vitale. The original core of the museum heritage consists of the collections formed during the eighteenth century by the Camaldolese monks of Classe, later enriched through donations, acquisitions, discoveries, and excavations. Currently, the museum presents itself as a set of heterogeneous collections, attributable to three fundamental groups: lapidary, excavation finds, and art collections. The lapidary, mostly displayed along the two cloisters of the monastery, is made up of an interesting collection of inscriptions and funerary steles and stone artifacts from the Roman, early Christian, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. On the upper floors, mosaics and archaeological materials, mainly from the territory of Classe, and so-called minor art collections are exhibited. The collections include bronzes and plaques, ivories, icons, weapons and armor, ceramics. Furthermore, the museum hosts the important cycle of fourteenth-century frescoes detached from the ancient church of Santa Chiara in Ravenna, the work of Pietro da Rimini.

13 National Museum of Underwater Activities

The National Museum of Underwater Activities was inaugurated in Marina di Ravenna by “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 also through temporary exhibitions, organizing conferences, and publishing educational materials. In the various sections, there are prints from the 1700s and 1800s, dioramas, one of the first Italian decompression chambers, diver and scuba equipment, work materials, and photo-submarine instruments. One area is dedicated to the navy and the underwater assault vehicle of the last world conflict, known as “pig”. It also preserves the original plaster cast of the statue submerged in the waters of S. Fruttuoso in Liguria, depicting the Christ of the Abyss, the work of sculptor Guido Galletti.

Other recommended museums of Ravenna

• Antico porto di Classe, Ravenna
• Classense Library, Ravenna
• House of Stone Carpets, Ravenna
• The Puppet House, Ravenna
• Archiepiscopal Museum of Ravenna
• City Art Museum, Ravenna
• Museum of the Italian Unification of Ravenna
• Educational Museum of the Territory, Ravenna
• Ravenna Museum of Natural Sciences “Alfredo Brandolini”, Ravenna
• Small Museum of Dolls and Other Toys, Ravenna
• The Planetarium of Ravenna
• Dante Alighieri Theater, Ravenna
• Luigi Rasi Theater, Ravenna