Our October 2003 daytrip to Ravenna, Italy almost derailed when the morning train from Florence (Firenze) to our connection in Burgo San Lorenzo made a very late departure.  We arrived in Burgo as the Ravenna bound train was leaving the station, but a kind official waved to the engineer who halted his train until we could scramble aboard!

During the fourth and fifth centuries CE (AD), Ravenna was the capital of the Mediterranean world.  It was a time of transition as Rome lost its preeminence and Byzantium took center stage.  The city retains its lavish monuments, but its glory days are only memories.  Still, those monuments are worth a look - either via an Adriatic cruise or as a side trip from Venice (Venezia), our final destination.

If you go to Ravenna by train, plan a weekday visit or travel very lightly since the rail station luggage lockers are not available on the weekends. 

The train station faces the port of Ravenna.  Turn 180 degrees and head across the parking lot toward the city to reach the major monuments.  If you're lucky, you'll pick up a slice or two of pretty good pizza in the little café with the roses on the cups that's just beyond the park with the mosaic tower called Ristorio Self-Service Sant'Apollinare Nuovo [Via di Roma, 53]

The major reason for our visit to Ravenna was to see the Mausoleum of Empress Galla Placidia (click on the link to read her amazing bio).  It's located near the Museo Nationale and the Basilica of San Vitale, just northwest of the center of the city.  Group tickets are available.

The small tomb was dimly lit by alabaster windows and crowded with tourists, but the mosaics were breathtaking.  There were several bathtub-like sarcophagi in the chamber including Placidia's own. 

San Vitale was completed in 525 during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian.  The mosaics feature scenes from the Old Testament, a beardless Christ, and Justinian with his wife, Empress Theodora - known for her rise from prostitution to power via the world of entertainment. 

You can take the very long walk back to the train station by way of the Mausoleum of Theodoric (Teodorico).  Theodoric, built his tomb in 520 in a Syrian style that owes nothing whatsoever to the monarch's Germanic origins.  It looks something like a whitish wedding cake and contains the bottom of the huge porphyry sarcophagus that once held the remains of this pivotal Ostrogothic (east Goth) king.

There are many other historic and cultural sights to see in Ravenna and the surrounding area.  It's a family-oriented destination with beaches and a theme park.  For more information and photos, check out the links below:

http://www.turismo.ravenna.it/regione/eng/ - tourist information

http://www.hp.uab.edu/image_archive/ulj/uljc.html - excellent photos of mosaics

http://www.bamm.org.uk/ancient/id243.htm - mosaics of San Vitale

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/San_Vitale.html - more about San Vitale

http://web.kyotoinet.or.jp/org/orion/eng/hst/byzantz.html - links to church photos

http://www.iicm.edu/ital_Ravenna - lots of links to photos

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12662b.htm - a history of Ravenna

click on the photos to enlarge them

small mosaic tower in the park across the street from Ravenna's train station

city center

entrance to the San Vitale complex

San Vitale

interior of San Vitale

sarcophagus in San Vitale

mosaic in San Vitale

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

mosaic and ceiling in Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

Rocca Brancaleone, now a public park, was a 15th century Venetian fort - if you walk from the San Vitale area to the Mausoleum of Theodoric, you will go around it. 

Mausoleum of King Theodoric the Great

sarcophagus of King Theodoric

interior ceiling of Theodoric's tomb