Ravenna is home to eight UNESCO monuments and some of the world’s most famous mosaics.
Italy’s City of Mosaics
All these monuments are in the city centre, and in fact so close together that it is possible to walk from one to the other. But what is more important is that they contain the best mosaics in the western world. Located in the Emilia-Romagna region, in the northeast of Italy, and not far from the Adriatic seaboard, it takes about an hour by road from Bologna to Italy’s City of Mosaics, while from both Florence and Venice it is just over two hours. More than 1,500 years ago this ancient city was the last capital of the Western Roman Empire, and the first seat of the Barbarian Kingdom of Italy.
Guided tours are recommended
Ravenna’s mosaics cover so many centuries and civilizations, from Western Rome to Byzantine, that a guided tour of all the sites is highly recommended. Two must-sees are the Basilica of San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. To visit them all and enjoy the experience, two days are ideal, also because there are other interesting things to see and do in Ravenna. While the Basilica and the Mausoleum look quite plain outside with brick exteriors, the interiors are such a riot of coloured mosaics they take your breath away. In San Vitale the entire apse is covered with the city’s most famous mosaic showing the Emperor Justinian in his court, the Empress Theodora with her ladies-in-waiting, and a sitting Christ.
A starry sky that seemingly inspired Cole Porter
Galla Placidia is a lot smaller but no less stunning and has the oldest mosaics in Ravenna dating back to the 5th century A.D. With 570 gold stars and a large gold cross on a dark blue background on the ceiling it is said that Cole Porter was inspired by this for his famous song Night and Day. Ravenna is also home to the tomb of Italy’s greatest poet Dante Alighieri who was born in Florence but first exiled and then buried here.
The piadina is the delicious local flatbread
On the pedestrian shopping streets that fan out from the central Piazza del Popolo Square the restaurants and cafes, boutiques and food stores display the many excellent local products and foodstuffs like the local piadina. This simple and delicious toasted flatbread is made with lard and filled with cheese, cured ham, vegetables and even preserved fruit. A simple and simply mouthwatering traditional street food.
