Dark sights in Ravenna
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Basilica di San Vitale, Mausoleo di Galla Placidia & Museo Nazionale
The basilica was consecrated in 547 by Archbishop Massimiano. In contrast to the sombre exterior, its interior is awash with colour as the rich greens, golds and blues of the mosaics are bathed in soft yellow sunlight. The mosaics on the side and end walls represent scenes from the Old Testament: to the left, Abraham prepares to sacrifice Isaac in the presence of three angels, while the one on the right portrays the death of Abel and the offering of Melchizedek. Inside the chancel, two magnificent mosaics depict the Byzantine emperor Justinian with San Massimiano and a particularly solemn and expressive Empress Theodora, who was his consort.
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Dante's Tomb
Italian literary legend Dante Alighieri spent the last 20 years of his life in Ravenna after being kicked out of Florence - to this day Florence supplies the oil for the lamps that burn in his tomb, as penance for exiling him. Dante's Divine Comedy was written in Ravenna, and today Dante's tomb is a reverent place with a wonderful mosaic floor.
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Mausoleo di Teodorico
This two-storey mausoleum, built in 520, is a considerable feat of construction with its huge blocks of stone uncemented by any mortar, and 300-tonne dome. At the heart of the mausoleum is a Roman basin of porphyry that was recycled as a sarcophagus. Take bus 2 or 5 from the city centre.
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