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Top Attractions in Ravenna

Arian Baptistry

The Arian Baptistry in Ravenna, Italy was erected by the Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great between the end of the 5th century and the beginning of the sixth century, at the same time as the Basilica of Sant Apollinare Nuovo. Theodoric was an Arian and decided to let the Goths and the orthodox Chalcedonian Christians live together but separately, and so there were separate neighborhoods and separate religious buildings. Near his palace, the king commissioned an Arian cathedral, now called the Church of Spirito Santo, but originally named Hagia Anastasis . It was re-consecrated as the Chalcedonian cathedral of Saint Teodoro in 526 AD. Little remains of the original church after its reconstruction in 1543; some historians speculate that the original mosaics were lost over a thousand years earlier during its Catholic reconstruction due to Arian themes. During this same period, Theodoric also had the baptistry built, today referred to as "of the Arians" in order to distinguish it from the Baptistry of Neon which is about one century older. The Baptistry is octagonal in shape with some little apses and arched openings near the top. Along the external perimeter there was once a walkway that stopped at the eastern apse. Clearly, the building was once part of a larger complex. Inside are four niches and a dome with mosaics, depicting the baptism of Jesus by Saint John the Baptist. Jesus is shown as a beardless, half-submerged in the Jordan. John the Baptist is wearing a leopard skin. On the left stands a white-haired, old man in a green cloak, holding a leather bag. He is the personification of the river Jordan. Above, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove sprays lustral water from its beak. Below, a procession of the Apostles, led in separate directions by Saint Peter and Saint Paul circle the dome, meeting at a throne with a jeweled crucifix resting on a purple cushion. It took the artists several years to complete these mosaics, as can be clearly seen from the different colors of the stones used to depict the grass at the feet of the apostles. The designs are quite simple, but the excessive use of a gold background should be noted, as it was typically used in this era to infuse these simple scenes with an ethereal glow. The entire composition is remarkably similar to that of the Orthodox Baptistry of Neon. The walls are bare, but were not always so. During archaeological investigations, some 170 kilograms of tessera were found on the floor. Due to the lack of Arian references, it is believed that the artists who created the mosaics were orthodox Christians, as the Ostrogoths were predominately goldsmiths and not mosaic artists. In 565, after the condemnation of the Arian sect, this small octagonal brick structure was converted into a Chalcedonian oratory named Santa Maria. Eastern-Rite monks added a monastery during the period of the Exarchate of Ravenna and further dedicated the structure to Saint Maria in Cosmedin. Around the year 1700, the structure passed into private hands, and in 1914 it was acquired by the Italian government. The Allied bombardment of World War II helped clear away other structures which had encroached on it from all sides, enabling researchers to view the details of its exterior for the first time. As with other monuments in Ravenna, the original floor is now some 2.3 meters underground. The Baptistry is one of the eight structures in Ravenna registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Baptistry of Neon

The Baptistry of Neon is a religious building in Ravenna, central Italy. The most ancient monument remaining in the city, it was partly erected on the site of a Roman bath. It is also called the Orthodox Baptistry to distinguish it from the Arian Baptistry constructed on behest of Ostrogothic King Theodoric some 50 years later. The octagonal brick structure was erected by Bishop Ursus at the end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century, as part of his great Basilica . The baptistery was finished by Bishop Neon at the end of the 5th century, at which time the mosaic decorations were added. The original floor is now some 3 meters underground, so the proper structure and extent of the building can no longer be seen. The octagonal design of the building, employed in virtually all Early Christian baptisteries, symbolizes the seven days of the week plus the Day of the Resurrection and Eternal Life. The ceiling mosaic depicts John the Baptist baptizing Jesus standing waist high in the Jordan River. To one side stands the personification of the Jordan river, with a reed in one hand and a garment in the other. A procession of the twelve apostles proceeds around the center mosaic in two directions, ending with Saint Peter meeting Saint Paul. The Baptistry is one of the eight structures in Ravenna registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. According to the ICOMOS evaluation of this patrimony, "this is the finest and most complete surviving example of the early Christian baptistery" which "retains the fluidity in representation of the human figure derived from Greco-Roman art".

San Giovanni Evangelista

San Giovanni Evangelista is a church in Ravenna, Italy. It was built in the fifth century AD by the Roman imperial princess Galla Placidia. In the Middle Ages the Benedictines annexed to it an important monastery. In the 14th century both the church and the monastery were renovated in the Gothic style: of that intervention the portal is visible today. In 1747 the church was almost entirely stripped of its mosaics; the only remaining are two fragments of the original 5th-century floor, with the first recorded Christian use of hooked crosses. Other mosaic fragments found under the bombs belong to 13th-century floor and depict the Fourth Crusade and the funeral of a fox.. Two of the four bells dates 1208. Heavily bombed during World War II, the building was later restored.

Archbishop's Chapel

The Archbishops Chapel is a chapel on the first floor of the bishops palace in Ravenna, Italy, the smallest of the famous mosaic sites of the city. It is a private oratory of Trinitarian bishops dating from the turn of the 6th century. Although commonly attributed to St. Peter Chrysologus, Archbishop of Ravenna from 433–450, the chapel was actually built by Peter II shortly after he became archbishop in 495. The mosaics date from the original construction, or soon after. The tiny cruciform chapel is currently dedicated to Saint Andrew, although the original dedication was to the Saviour, as evidenced by a lunette over the vestibule door representing Christ treading on the beasts, dressed as a general or victorious Emperor. The lower parts of the walls are lined with marble slabs, while the rest of the interior used to be covered with rich, tapestry-like mosaics, as the vault still is. Some parts of these survive, while others were substituted with tempera paintings by Luca Longhi in the 16th century. According to the ICOMOS evaluation of this World Heritage Site, "the significance of this property is the fact that it is the only Early Christian private oratory that has survived to the present day. Its iconography is also important by virtue of its strongly anti-Arian symbolism".

Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo

The Basilica of Sant Apollinare Nuovo is a basilica church in Ravenna, Italy. It was erected by Ostrogoth King Theodoric the Great as his palace chapel during the first quarter of the 6th century . This Arian church was originally dedicated in 504 AD to "Christ the Redeemer". It was reconsecrated in 561 AD, under the rule of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, under the new name "Sanctus Martinus in Coelo Aureo" . Suppressing the Arian cult, the church was dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, a foe of Arianism. According to legend, Pope Gregory the Great ordered that the mosaics in the church be blackened, as their golden glory distracted worshipers from their prayers. The basilica was renamed again in 856 AD when relics of Saint Apollinaris were transferred from the Basilica of SantApollinare in Classe because of the threat posed by frequent raids of pirates from the Adriatic Sea. Its apse and atrium underwent modernization at various times, beginning in the 6th century with the destruction of mosaics whose themes were too overtly Arian or which expressed the kings glory, but the mosaics of the lateral walls, twenty-four columns with simplified Corinthian capitals, and an Ambo are preserved. On some columns, images of arms and hands can be seen, which are parts of figures once representing praying Goths and Theodorics court, deleted in Byzantine times. Renovations were done to the mosaics in the mid-19th century by Felice Kibel. The present apse is a reconstruction after being damaged during World War I.

Teatro Comunale Alighieri

The Teatro Comunale Alighieri is an opera house located at 2 Via Mariani in Ravenna, Italy and designed by the Venetian architects, Tommaso Meduna and his brother, Giambattista who had designed the second La Fenice theatre after the fire of 1836 . The new Teatro Comunale Alighieri was inaugurated on 15 May 1852 with a production of Meyerbeers Robert le diable, followed by Giovanni Pacinis Medea. It presently offers a program of up to six operas during the season which runs from November to April. For about 125 years following 1723, Ravenna had one main theatre for the presentation of opera, the Teatro Comunitativo located outside the centre of the city. It featured a lavishly decorated, U-shaped baroque auditorium with 97 boxes on four tiers. In the 50 years following 1802, it presented 170 operatic productions, 24 of which were by Rossini, 22 by Donizetti, and 10 by Verdi. However, the 1830s and 1840s revealed its inadequancy, and plans were made to build a new theatre in the heart of the city; the cornerstone of the replacement theatre was laid in 1840. With construction continuing until 1852, the new Teatro Comunale was named for the famous poet, Dante Aligheri, who had been exiled from Florence and then spent the last four years of his life in Ravenna. Reflecting the style of the Venetian brothers, the exterior of the Alighieri is neo-classical with a four ionic columns and a portico with statues of four Muses. With 118 boxes in four tiers plus a gallery, the auditorium was constructed in the traditional horseshoe shape with 830 seats. As befitting his position as the major operatic composer of the day, Giuseppe Verdis operas were dominant at the new theatre during its first fifty years; of other composers works, Donizettis operas were the only ones which appeared regularly until 1870 and those of Bellini vanished after 1866. However, French grand opera survived until the 20th century. Since its foundation in 1990, the annual June/July Ravenna Festival has presented a very diverse range of operas at the Alighieri. These have included rare works by Salieri, Auber, and Cherubini as well as less performed operas by many of the standard 19th-century composers plus more popular works.

Archiepiscopal Museum

The Archiepiscopal Museum is located in Ravenna, Italy, next to the Baptistry of Neon and behind the Duomo of Ravenna. In the museum relics of early Christian Ravenna are preserved, including fragments of mosaic from the first cathedral church, and the chapel of SantAndrea, dating from the Gothic kingdom. The main room, on entering, contains lapidary inscriptions as HIC REQUIESCIT IN PACE VIR SBL SEDA IGNUCUS, CUBICULARIUS or Bedchamberlain to Theodoric the Great, buried 541 AD. Beneath this, by the window, a reliquary for the martyred saints Quiricus and Julietta, whose remains were carried from Tarsus, the birthplace of Saint Paul, to Auxerre and from thence to Ravenna. The depictions on its four facings are in keeping with the theme of donation: Galla Placidia placed it in the church of San Giovanni Battista . They are: Christ giving the Tables of the Law to St. Peter, with Paul standing by him; Daniel in the lions den, with the prophet Habakkuk offering him a loaf and fishes; The Three Wise Kings bringing their gifts to the infant Christ; The women sitting below at His empty tomb. The marble rosette on the facing wall is a Paschal calendar of the 6th century. Its purpose was to fix the movable feast of Easter in such a way that it might be celebrated everywhere in Christendom on the same day no easy matter when East and West were using different calendars: the Eastern Church used the Hebrew lunar calendar, while the Western church followed the suns cycle. Despite the decrees of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD and the tables of Theophilus, in this, as in all matters of faith, people followed their own loyalties. This calendar follows the eastern lunar cycle: LV on the outer rim, followed by AN indicates the phase of its 19-year cycle; the date then for Easter is written in each recurring phase from 532 AD to 626 AD. The mosaics are the few fragments left of what covered the apse of the first church: they are not Roman originals but of the early 12th century. The most beautiful and intact is that of the Madonna, praying in the eastern manner; other fragments give some idea of its composition the life of SantApollinare, the patron saint and evangeliser of Ravenna; scenes of the Resurrection; Saints Peter and Paul. On entering the room to the right, there is a little stele depicting Christ the Good Shepherd by a tree: it is the tombstone of Antiphon, who died aged 17 years, 5 months and 12 days, sometime at the end of the 2nd/beginning of the 3rd century, long before the Edict of Tolerance, and is thus the earliest Christian record in Ravenna. The red porphyrian man, headless, handless, footless, may be the Emperor Theodosius. It recalls the statue of the Tetrarchs outside the Doges Palace in Venice, gripping onto power. The jewel of the collection is the Ivory Cathedra, the bishops seat of the Byzantine era, considered among the finest pieces of ivory carving in Western art. It is placed in what was the tower of Porta Salustra, the Roman gateway which commanded the southern entrance along the Cardis. It is the work of different hands and, even allowing for the missing panels, it still remains a visible masterpiece: the front bench, with the figures of Saint John the Baptist flanked by the Evangelists and a frieze work of peacocks, lions, goats and deer among vines, is especially fascinating; the backrest represents scenes from the birth of Christ, including Mary proving her virginity by immersion; on the other side, the miracles of Christ, his baptism and entry into Jerusalem; the armrests depict the Old Testament life of Joseph, reading from left to right .

Palace of Theoderic

The palace of Theoderic was a structure in Ravenna, Italy, that was the residence of the Ostrogothic ruler and king of Italy Theoderic the Great, who was buried in the nearby Mausoleum of Theoderic. Both the location of the former palace and a large part of the ground plan can be gathered from excavations of the remains of foundations and walls carried out by Corrado Ricci in the period between 1907 and 1911 in the garden of the Monghini family and in the adjacent area between the Viale Farini und Via Alberoni. Ricci identified the building on the basis of lead sewer pipes on which the name of Theoderic was engraved. The palace lay behind San Apollinare Nuovo, Theoderics cathedral church, and the partial building which is now referred to as the "so-called Palace of Theoderic", which was erroneously believed to be a remnant of the palace for a long time. The lead pipes revealed by the excavation, along with other finds, are kept in a dedicated room of the National Museum, Ravenna. A large-scale mosaic depiction of the palace, located on the upper part of the southern interior wall of San Apollinare Nuovo and dating from the time of Theoderic, allows the palace to be reconstructed to a certain extent. From that, the palace seems not to have been very large. The relevant mosaic in San Apollinare Nuovo, which probably originally depicted Theoderic sitting on a horse in the centre and members of his court or his family in the two flanking colonnades, was altered after Theoderics death in 526. Because he was an Arian, the Roman Church considered him a heretic. After his death, therefore, all images that depicted him and other people were removed from the mosaic and covered with other images. Of the original figures, the hands still remain on the columns of the palace. In the excavations, among other things, some remnants of the palaces mosaic floor were discovered. The mosaics were brought to the "so-called Palace of Theoderic" in 1923, where they were set up in a display room. In the display room, on the upper level, a poster with a plan of the excavated foundations was displayed as well. Building material was taken from the ruins of Theoderics palace by Charlemagne, including several columns that he reused in the construction of his Palatine Chapel in Aachen. The columns, which served mostly as decoration and had no structural role, were removed by Napoleon and displayed in the Louvre. Some of the columns were later returned to Aachen.
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