VISIT RAVENNA AND ITS MOSAICS – HALF DAY TOUR
Renowned tourist destination, Ravenna was the last capital of the Western Roman Empire: the capital of the Gothic kingdom under Theodoric and later the capital of the Byzantine Exarchate. It is a city full of art and culture and its history relives in the glory of its mosaics.
The magnificence of that period has left a great legacy of monuments – there are up to eight buildings which have been declared World Heritage monuments by UNESCO – and memories of people from the past, especially of protagonists of the watershed between the late antiquity and the dawn of the Middle Ages, such as Galla Placida, Theodoric, Justinian, emerge everywhere in Ravenna.
The half-day tour includes the Church of San Vitale, with its splendid mosaics showing the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, a walk through the pedestrian historical centre to reach the Duomo, the Battistero Neoniano, the tomb of Dante, Piazza del Popolo and the beautiful Basilica of St. Apollinare Nuovo, palatine church of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths.
RAVENNA – FULL DAY TOUR
The full day tour of Ravenna and its mosaics allows one to deepen the knowledge of early Christian and Byzantine Ravenna with a visit to the Arian Baptistery, built by the Ostrogoths at the beginning of the 6th century and adorned with splendid mosaics, the imposing Mausoleum of Theodoric and the Basilica of St. Apollinare in Classe, famous for the apse mosaic of the 6th century.
The Domus dei tappeti (the House of Carpets), one of the most important archaeological sites discovered in Italy in recent decades, is not to be missed: there you can admire the magnificent mosaic floors of a private mansion dating from the 6th century.
The Museums are outstanding, from the National Museum, which houses important findings from the Roman and Byzantine ruins, the Archbishop’s Museum with the Oratorio di Sant’Andrea and the ivory chair of Massimiano. Ravenna is home to MAR (Art Museum of the city) and Tamo (All the adventure of mosaic), dedicated to the Mosaic Art in all its forms of expression, from old times to present day.
The silent halls of the Classense Library house relics of Lord Byron and many other important personalities who lived in the city.
IN THE SURROUNDINGS
The hinterland of Ravenna is rich in treasures worthy to be discovered as the city of Faenza, capital of pottery, and the ancient village of Brisighella.