We knew that Porto Corsini, where we docked, was outside Ravenna but we hadn't realized how far until we went out to catch a cab this morning. There were some guys out there who said they'd been waiting for over half an hour for one so we opted to pay for the Royal Caribbean shuttle into Ravenna instead, which turned out to be a good decision. It was about 20 minutes to the old part of the city from the ship, a relatively long ride.
Once we arrived we headed off as quickly as we could to one of the five stops we had planned for the day, all five UNESCO sites that featured the mosaics Ravenna is famous for. We hustled past what I later learned was the Ravenna Municipal Tower, for many years, a symbol of power and prestige that was built in the 12th century.. Over the years it fell into disuse and by 2000 the height had to be shortened by about 43 feet, which included its bells, as it had begun to shift at the bottom due to an underground landslide. Hence Ravenna's own leaning tower.
We just made it to our timed entry for this lovely small building, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. I'm letting you know here I'm not going to write a whole lot about the mosaics in this post as their beauty speaks for themselves.
The Mausoleo di Galla Placidia is a 5th century mausoleum dedicated to its namesake who was the daughter of a Roman emperor. This was the beginning of our experience today with breathtaking mosaics.
The mosaic pieces are tiny so it is mind boggling how long it must have taken to create this artwork.
The ceiling of the mausoleum is supposed to imitate the night sky, a deep blue with golden stars throughout it.
Notice the Greek eternity symbol in the border of this arch. The windows are made of thin slices of stone to allow the warm light into the mausoleum. No flash photography is allowed inside.
Because the space is so small they only let about 20 people in at a time and you are only allowed to gaze in wonder for five minutes.
Supposedly this is Galla's sarcophagus, also in the tomb is the sarcophagus of her son.
These mosaics just glow when the light shines on them.
They cover the entire ceiling and the upper walls.
One of the detailed figures on the walls.
A detail of the design motif throughout the mausoleum. You can see all the colors that would have been used. The pieces themselves are a variety of materials, they can be ceramics, glass, stone, marble, or mother-of-pearl.
The Basilica de San Vitale has the most impressive exterior, and Laura and I both felt like the inside was the most spectacular of the day as well, with its intricately detailed mosaics, not only on the ceiling and walls but also the floors.
Octagonal in shape, the basilica also has round towers outside, as well as some early examples of flying buttresses. It was another structure built in the 6th century. Those were good times for construction in Ravenna!
As you walk inside you aren't sure whether to look up or down, because the detail on the floors is so impressive. And it's not just one design, there are multiple designs as you can see from the collage above.
And then there is the space inside, completely awe inspiring! It contains elements of both Roman and Byzantine architecture.
The ceiling is painted in the San Vitale rather than done with mosaics.
The details are so rich they look like something Michelangelo would have done, but these were created later, in the 18th century.
Balconies surround the center of the interior on the upper story.
Everywhere we looked were the shining mosaics.
Another beautiful work of art on the floor.
The vaulted ceiling shows some wear in various areas.
Mosaic depictions of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus lined this archway.
Other decor included these natural marble pieces, four panels for each that created a mirror image.
The ceiling above the altar.
Just scroll through if you get tired of the eye candy.
This really was one of the most beautiful
places that we had ever seen.
The mosaic of Jesus.
One more view of San Vitale from the other side after we had exited.
We thought this was a unique metal relief of the building.
Even some of the street signs in Ravenna are made of mosaics.
One thing that was different in Ravenna were so many people on bikes,
lots and lots of bikes. It was especially fun to see the older ladies riding around.
We'd gotten a referral from one of the guys selling shuttle tickets to have our lunch at Trattoria al Cerchio. It did not disappoint!
After some ham, salami, and cheese appetizers we had pasta, and then Karl had filet as well. My pasta had sausage and sun dried tomatoes, while Karl had a tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms.
It made Karl's pasta dreams come true!
We decided we were celebrating Laura and Bob's 10th anniversary with this lunch, even though their anniversary actually wasn't until the next day.
I thought this pot with mosaics was kind of fun.
Two more UNESCO sites close to one another were our next stops, the Museo e Capella Arcivescovile and the Battistero Neoniano.
The latter is Ravenna’s oldest UNESCO building dating from the 5th century and containing more beautiful mosaics. It is named for a Bishop Neon who made sure the building was completed.
In the center of the ceiling was this incredible mosaic of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. I had to wonder what it would have been like to lie on your back, reaching up to place all the small pieces of the picture.
An expanded view of the spectacular ceiling.
They believe that the building itself was constructed on the site of an old Roman bath.
These funky figures circled the walls, the faces all seemed a little odd to me.
Even the corners were mosaics.
This unique nativity was on the grounds of the baptistry.
You knew there had to be a flower photo sooner or later!
Inside the Museo Arcivescovile you find early Christian relics from Ravenna.
I loved this beautiful nativity marble relief.
The main thing we were in search of here was the Ivory Cathedra, which served as the bishop's seat, or throne, during the Byzantine era in the 6th century.
The ivory carvings on it are detailed and exquisite. Blank spaces on the throne are ivory panels that are missing.
This piece is considered one of the best examples of ivory carving in Western art.
Also inside the museum is a small, private chapel that was constructed the end of the 5th century. Here again the mosaics are incredible.
The chapel is dedicated to Saint Andrew who I believe is pictured here.
The detail and craftsmanship of these places is mind boggling,
remember that we are talking about art that was created almost 1500 years ago.
Again here the floors were their own lovely mosaics.
They would have made beautiful quilts.
The final highlight in the museum was this marble rosette calendar whose purpose was to establish the date of Easter each year so that it could be celebrated at the same time through all Christendom. It was a challenging task due to the fact that the Western and Eastern churches followed different calendars. Western churches adhered to a calendar using the sun's cycle, while the Eastern Church followed the Hebrew lunar calendar. It's no wonder this rosette looks so convoluted!
We took a quick look inside San Francesco,
a much simpler looking church built between the 9th and 10th centuries. The funeral of Dante Aligheri, who wrote The Divine Comedy, think inferno, in 1321. It has been restored several times.
Inside the church is an underground crypt, which stays dark unless you put a €1 coin in the box next to the door and then the lights come on
to reveal what remains of the original medieval basilica. Water covers the floor now and there are goldfish swimming there.
Outside San Francesco.
This small building was constructed in 1781 and stands over the tomb of
poet Dante Alighieri, beloved by the people of Italy for breaking with tradition and writing in Italian rather than Latin.
He had spent his final years in Ravenna,
his funeral was next door when it was known as the Church of San Pier Maggiore,
and he was interred in a spot closer to the road in an ancient Roman sarcophagus, in which he continues to rest.
It was in the late 15th century when the tomb was moved closer to the church. Since Dante had been born in Florence the powers there felt that his remains should come home to his native city. They were granted permission to move his body by Pope Leo X in 1519 but the Franciscan friars in Ravenna hid Dante's remains and kept them under guard until the delegation from Tuscany went home.
Our final mosaic stop was the Basilica de Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, one of the 6th century sites built by Theodoric who ruled the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths, a Germanic kingdom who conquered Rome shortly after the empire fell. He made Ravenna his capital and constructed multiple buildings within the city that still stand today. We can thank him for many of the marvelous building in town! This basilica was his palace before it became a church. One thing that makes this site different is its bell tower
Mosaics here were lovely but not as stunning as at the other sites.
One unique spot in the church was this small Chapel of Peace and Victory that was consecrated in 1919 to commemorate the first aerial raid on the city of Ravenna that took place in 1916 during WW1, heavily damaging Sant'Apollinare. The paintings here are very nice and are a good likeness of the people of that time period.
The church itself was built in the early 6th century. Legend goes that Pope Gregory the Great ordered the church's mosaics to be blackened because their splendor distracted people from their prayer.
The thing I really loved here were the many pictures depicting bible stories.
See if you can tell what they are in these four, and then there are more below.
The altar here was very different with its stone altar pieces.
Two more stories, these should be easy to decipher.
And then two more. There may be parables among them as well.
And of course before returning to the ship we had to make a gelato stop! Today's flavors for Karl were Strawberry and Coconut, while I had Biscotto and Pistachio.
The salty/sweet of the pistachio was the perfect way to end what had been a hot and humid but terrific day. Ravenna's reputation as the. Mosaic Capital of the World totally lived up to the hype with its incredible treasures. These are beauties we won't soon forget!
Bonus photo here that I. added after taking this shot off the balcony last night. All the red and green lights in the marina were so pretty. I was going to leave the drapes open all night but then realized the lighthouse light flashed past every few seconds so no good rest with that going on. It was fun to look at for a while though!
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