Welcome to Ravenna
From Jesse's Journeys in Italy
Population: 134,631 (2001)
Official website:
Ravenna
Wikipedia:
Ravenna
Map:
Mapquest
Ravenna, in the eastern part of
Emilia Romagna,
has a long and storied history as the
seat of empires and popes. Once an
important port, the City is now
land-locked , connected to the
Adriatic by a canal still very much
in use.
Not surprisingly, the buildings and
monuments of Ravenna span a number of
styles from Gothic to Renaissance to
hideous modern. In many cases, the
earliest reveal
a distinct Middle Eastern influence.
Many of the 4th to 6th century
buildings, including the Galla
Placidia (5th Century), Chiesa
San Vitale (547 BC) Chiesa
Sant'Apollinaire Nuovo (the
Cathedral of Ravenna built between 370
and 390 AD), are decorated with intricate
and fabulous mosaics. The
octagonal shaped Baptistry of the
Cathedral, also containing fine mosaices,
was builtin in the 5th Century.
Many churches in Ravenna and the
immediate vicinity, including San
Giovani and San Vitale
incorporate Roman columns taken from the
16th century demolition of Classe, or
Roman sculptures. San Vitale, an
octagonal building with a lofty terra
cotta dome, is a masterpiece of
Byzantine Art, featuring mosaics
depicting the old and new testament.
Ravenna's National Museum of Antiquities
is housed in the cloisters of the
church.
The Basilica Sant'Apploninaire
(535-549 AD), at the port of Classe,
with its distinctive round campanile
(870-878) incorporates decorative
majolica. In the city, there are
also various Venetian era palazzi,
and a Venetian fortress, the Rocca
Brancaleona to see.
Travelers to Ravenna should also seek
out
Dante's tomb (in the Chiesa San
Francesco), the tomb of
Theodoric, a two story structure
capped by a single slab limestone dome
about 36 meters in diameter, the
Palace of the Archbishop, home of a
major museum, and the Academy of Fine
Arts.
A short history...
Like the earliest
Venetians,
the earliest inhabitants (of unknown
origin) built stone houses on islands in
marshy lagoons, and in time, the lagoons
were filled and the settlement expanded.
In 89 BC, the town, hitherto ignored by
the
Romans, became a federated town in
the Empire. It was here, in 49 BC
that
Julius Caesar gathered his forces
and cast the die when he decided to
cross the
Rubicon River. The
Emperor Augustus developed Classe,
a military harbor in 45 BC, which
remained important through the
Middle Ages.
In the 2nd Century AD,
Emperor Trajan ordered the
construction of a 70 kilometer aqueduct
to provide fresh water to the City.
In 402 AD, Ravenna becamse the capital
of the Roman Empire, in its long
decline, when, as a defensive move,
Emperor Honorius
moved the capital from
Milan. When
Aleric, King of the
Visigoths invaded in 409, he merely
by passed Ravenna on his way to Rome,
which he sacked, and where he took
Emperor Theodosius' daughter, Galla Placidia, hostage.
It was in the Gothic era that Ravenna
gained a measure of peace and
prosperity, when Christianity
flourished and many of its most
important buildings and monuments were
built. But, in due course, the Visigoths
were displaced by the
Ostrogoths under
Theodoric (493
AD)and Ravenna became the Ostrogothic
capital. Ostrogothic rule lasted
until Ravenna was conquered by the
Byzantine Empire under
Justinian in 540, and Ravenna became
the capital of Byzantine administration
in Italy, known as the
Exarchate of Ravenna, under its
governor, the Exarch.
Next in the historical line-up came the
Longobards who captured, lost and
recaptured Ravenna (712 - 751 AD).
By 784, however, it was conquered by the
French under
King Pepin on orders from Pope
Stephen. The French, under
agreement with
Pope Adrian I, rolled it into the
Papal States in 784, but at the cost
of severe looting by
Charlemagne,
by then Emperor of the French.
Within the Papal States Ravenna, after
Rome, was the richest of all
Archbishoprics and so Ravenna enjoyed
an immense amount of independence ~ and
conflict with Rome. By the 12th
Century, Ravenna had lost most of the
surrounding territory, but was still a
powerful city under a succession of rich
and/or aristocratic families. From
1441 to 1509, the city was ruled from
Venice. But the
Holy League sacked by the French in
1512, and Ravenna was returned to the
Papal States. There it remained
until the Unification of Italy in 1861.
The city and surrounding area suffered
extreme flooding in 1636, and over the
next three hundred years, through
draining, river diversion, land filling
and canalling, Ravenna was left secure,
but surrounded by the green belt which,
apart from vast industrial tracks (food
processing, refined petroleum,
petrochemicals, furniture, cement),
surrounds it still.
Naturally, as a modern Italian city,
Ravenna is not defined by the quality of
its ancient piles, artifacts and art.
It is a small industrial and business
center, and there are fashionable shops,
chi chi cafes, trendy restaurants and
numerous leafy piazzi where one can
while away the hours. The City has
a pleasant, vivacious quality which has
endeared, and continues to endear, the
traveler and tourist.
by Vian Andrews September 17, 2005
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