October 10, 2022

October 10, 2022

We took a day trip from Bologna, Italy to the town of Ravenna, near the Adriatic coast. From the train station, we walked to the far edge of the historic center. The large street signs are all decorated with mosaic patterns because Ravenna is known as the ‘City of Mosaics’. After the fall of Rome, Ravenna became a capital of the Roman Empire because of its protective swamps and location near the Adriatic Naval Port. Ravenna has the largest collections of structures from this Byzantine period outside of Istanbul.

We bought an entry pass that covers all the major sites. Since Covid, timed entry is now required for two of them. Our first stop was nearby at the Mausoleum of Gallia Placidia. Despite being early, we were waved in. This small tomb built around 430 AD has an intact ceiling that is completely covered in glass mosaic tiles about the size of a fingernail. It is in astounding shape because mosaics last far longer than paintings. It seems to be highly decorated for a tomb.

Within the same complex is the much larger Basilica di San Vitale. This is the crown jewel of Ravenna. This early Christian church has an octagonal core surrounded by naves. Only one is decorated, but it is glorious. It was completed in 547 AD. It is the same age as the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and is probably a better example of what it originally looked like. The decorations are complex with lots of figures and symbolism. Interestingly the figure of Jesus is clean-shaven which was typical for early depictions. One panel has an image of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. The floor is also decorated in beautiful mosaic designs.

Walking south we popped in the relatively new uninteresting Duomo. Next door is the Neonian Baptistery. This octagonal structure has a large baptismal font in the center. Built around 400 AD, it is the oldest religious structure in Ravenna. Not surprisingly the central element of the mosaic decoration of the ceiling is St John baptizing Jesus. The walls have some bas-relief sculptures.

Also next door is the small Archiepiscopal Museum. It has a bunch of tombstones in Latin which all start with ‘Here lies in Peace’. There is also a Byzantine ivory bishop’s throne and a large silver cross. There are also some fragments of glass mosaic that allows a close-up examination of their construction.

The jewel of the museum though is the bishop's private chapel of St Andrew. It is small but has a nicely decorated glass mosaic ceiling from around 500 AD.

Working our way back to the train station our next stop is at the Basilica of San Francesco. This early Christian church has little of its original decoration. The only item of interest is the crypt that is usually flooded. For a One Euro coin, we can turn on a light that illuminates the remnants of its original mosaic floor and the goldfish swimming in it.

Dante died in Ravenna during his exile from Florence. His funeral was in this church and he is buried on the grounds in an elaborate tomb. He is considered Italy’s greatest poet.

For lunch we stopped and had ravioli stuffed with cheese and spinach. Since our Italy days are numbered we had a medley of small desserts.

We tried to visit the Arian Baptistery but we discovered it is closed on Mondays. Our last stop is the Basilica Sant’Apollinare Nuovo. This old church is in the Roman Basilica shape, similar to a rectangular Roman temple. Christians would adopt the name for their churches and later add a transept to make the cross-shaped floor plan. The only surviving Byzantine decoration is on the upper panels of the side walls; like all the other mosaics they are beautiful. They mostly consist of a procession of figures with unique scenes on both ends.

We make a half-hearted attempt to see another ancient mosaic site north of the train station. We are blocked by the old Ravenna Fortress. It is a long walk around so we punt and mid-afternoon we take the train back to Bologna. After a brief stop in our hotel room, we walk back to the city center. There is a fraction of the crowds this afternoon.

We stopped at the Biblioteca Communale dell’Archiginnasio. This was the main building of the University of Bologna, the oldest in Europe, founded in 1088. Our self-guided tour takes us inside a neoclassical building with a courtyard just like University of Padua. Similarly they have hundreds of coats of arms of former students on display. We also visited another Teatro Anatomico, dissection parlor. This time we get the student eye version. It has some kind of morbid Frankenstein appeal to us, During WWII it was bombed and nearly destroyed.

Yesterday we ran into a Chicago woman on vacation here who told us Eric Clapton is in town for two nights giving a concert. We passed a fancy hotel with lots of people hanging around with Clapton t-shirts, waiting for him to make an appearance.

We spent the next hour shoe shopping. Aimee found a local store that carries some Turkish shoes that she couldn't pass up. Unfortunately they are out of the hummingbird design she had her heart set on. I also tried unsuccessfully to get a winter version of some German Birkenstock shoes I like for around the house.

On the walk home, Aimee suggested pizza and that struck a chord with me. A few blocks north we ran into a tiny pizzeria. It was great. The pizza reminded me of Uno’s, my favorite from Chicago.