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Basilica di San VitaleSometimes, after weeks of strolling around dark Italian churches, you can lose your sense of wonder. Not here! The lucid mosaics that adorn the altar of…
Must see attractions in Ravenna
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Basilica di Sant'Apollinare NuovoAn old legend states that Pope Gregory the Great once ordered the Apollinare's mosaics to be blackened as they were distracting worshippers from prayer. A…
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Mausoleo di Galla PlacidiaIn the same complex as Basilica di San Vitale, the small but equally incandescent Mausoleo di Galla Placidia was constructed for Galla Placidia, the half…
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Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in ClasseThis signature early Christian basilica, lighter than Ravenna's other churches, is situated 5km southeast of town in the former Roman port of Classe. Its…
- BBattistero Neoniano
Roman ruins aside, this is Ravenna's oldest intact building, constructed over the site of a former Roman bathing complex in the late 4th century. Built in…
- MMuseo Arcivescovile
A museum with a difference, this religious gem is on the 2nd floor of the Archiepiscopal Palace. It hides two not-to-be-missed exhibits: an exquisite…
- BBattistero degli Ariani
The €1 entry here (unique among Ravenna's Unesco sites) is no reflection of the quality of the artistry inside. The baptistery's breathtaking dome mosaic,…
- MMuseo TAMO
This newer museum doubles-down on Ravenna's extraordinary history of mosaic work by chronicling 12 centuries of history, using technology and multimedia…
- DDomus dei Tappeti di Pietra
Not nearly as impressive as the Unesco site mosaics, but still worth a look for serious aficionados, these 6th-century floor mosaics from a 14-room late…
- MMuseo d'Arte della Città di Ravenna
Arranged in a converted 15th-century monastery abutting a public garden, Ravenna's permanent art collection is backed up by regular temporary expos. The…
- CCLASSIS Ravenna
Ravenna's new city museum, located in an 1899 sugar-extraction plant just down the road from Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe, welcomes you with its…
- MMausoleo di Teodorico
Historically and architecturally distinct from Ravenna's other Unesco sites (there are no mosaics here), this two-storey mausoleum was built in 520 for…
- TTomba di Dante
A son of Florence, Italy's Sommo Poeta (supreme poet), Dante Alighieri, was expelled from the city of his birth in 1302 for political reasons and spent…
- DDuomo
Consecrated in 1749, Ravenna's baroque cathedral was built atop the remains of a much earlier church. Artefacts from the original 5th-century cathedral…