RAVENNA - ITALY - THE BEST OF THE CITY IN ONE DAY!

RAVENNA - ITALY - THE BEST OF THE CITY IN ONE DAY!
RAVENNA: THE ROMANS BUILT RAVENNA IN THE MIDDLE OF A COASTAL LAGOON, PROTECTED FROM THE SEA. AT CLASSE, SOUTH OF RAVENNA, THEY BUILT A PORT TO WATCH OVER THE SAFETY OF THE ADRIATIC SEA.
RAVENNA WAS THE CAPITAL OF 3 DIFFERENT KINGDOMS FOR 350 YEARS! THE CAPITAL OF THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE UNTIL THE YEAR 476 WHEN THE ANCIENT HISTORY ENDED AND THE MIDDLE AGES BEGAN, A VERY IMPORTANT EVENT THAT TOOK PLACE IN RAVENNA! THE CITY WAS THEN THE CAPITAL OF THE OSTROGOTHIC KINGDOM AND OF THE BYZANTINE EXARCHATE ESTABLISHED BY THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE.
FROM A SMALL TOWN RAVENNA BECAME AN ECONOMIC, POLITICAL CRUX, AND THAT PUSHED A LOT CULTURE, ART, BUILDING, ESPECIALLY WHEN RAVENNA WAS THE CAPITAL CITY OF THE BYZANTINE EXARCHATE, BECAUSE IT WAS THE VITAL POINT BETWEEN WESTERN AND EASTERN CULTURE! SO, FOR ITS EARLY CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS, ITS MOSAICS SINCE 1996 RAVENNA HAS BEEN A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE!
CHAPEL OF SANT'ANDREA: THE ONLY ORTHODOX MONUMENT STILL STANDING IN THE CITY, BUILT AT THE TIME OF THEODORIC. ALL THE DECORATIONS IN THE CHAPEL ARE ANTI-ARIAN, SUCH AS THE WARRIOR CHRIST WITH THE CROSS ON HIS SHOULDER.
NEONIAN BAPTISTERY: A BEAUTIFUL MOSAIC DEPICTS JESUS IN THE JORDAN RIVER RECEIVING BAPTISM.
BASILICA OF SANT'APOLLINARE NUOVO: COLOURFUL MOSAICS DEPICT SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF CHRIST, THE PALACE OF THEODORIC, THE EPIPHANY, THE PORT OF CLASSE AND COVER THE ENTIRE WALLS OF THE CENTRAL NAVE. WHAT STANDS OUT IS THE BYZANTINE INFLUENCE IN THE BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN BACKGROUND OF THE MOSAICS.
BASILICA OF SANT'APOLLINARE IN CLASSE: HERE IT IS THE APSE THAT SHOWS OFF SOME GREAT MOSAICS WITH SPLENDID REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DIVINE NATURE OF CHRIST IN LINE WITH THE ANTI-ARIAN TRENDS
BAPTISTERY OF THE ARYANS: A GREAT MOSAIC DEPICTS JESUS IN THE JORDANIAN RIVER IN THE ACT OF RECEIVING BAPTISM.
BASILICA DI SAN VITALE: THE BASILICA DI SAN VITALE IS THE MOST BYZANTINE BASILICA IN RAVENNA. THE INTERIOR IS FULL OF FAMOUS MOSAICS, THE FOCAL POINT OF WHICH IS LOCATED IN THE APSE. BUT THE BASILICA IS ALSO RICH IN VALUABLE DECORATIONS AND STUCCOES, SUCH AS THE CAPITALS SCULPTED IN BYZANTIUM.
MAUSOLEUM OF GALLA PLACIDIA: THE MOSAIC OF THE STARRY SKY AND THE OTHER MOSAICS ARE OF GREAT IMPACT ALSO BECAUSE THEY ARE CLOSER TO THE VISITOR, GIVEN THE SMALL SIZE OF THE SITE, WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE INSPIRED A SONG BY THE FAMOUS AMERICAN COMPOSER COLE PORTER.
MAUSOLEUM OF THEODORIC: BUILT AROUND 1500 YEARS AGO IN WHITE ISTRIAN STONE WITH HUGE DRYSTONE BLOCKS, SET ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER. THE WHOLE STRUCTURE IS HELD TOGETHER BY AN ENORMOUS DOME MEASURING 33 FEET IN DIAMETER AND WEIGHING AROUND 230 TONS. IT IS A SINGLE BLOCK OF STONE! IN THE PAST THE MAUSOLEUM OF THEODORIC WAS MUCH HIGHER THAN IT IS TODAY, IT COULD BE SEEN FROM THE CENTRE OF THE CITY AND FROM THE SEA, WHICH AT THAT TIME WAS MUCH CLOSER. LATER SEDIMENTS DEPOSITED IN THIS AREA COVERED THE LOWER FLOOR OF THE MAUSOLEUM WHICH WAS BROUGHT TO LIGHT IN 1844, WHICH IS WHY THE LOWER FLOOR HAS A DIFFERENT COLOUR COMPARED TO THE UPPER FLOOR.

BASILICA OF SAN FRANCISCO: UNDER THE ALTAR OF THE CHURCH THERE IS AN OLD CRYPT WHICH, DUE TO THE PHENOMENON OF SUBSIDENCE (THE GROUND IS SINKING) IS NOW 10 FEET LOWER THAN THE FLOOR OF THE CHURCH, AND THIS CRYPT IS FULL OF WATER. ON THE FLOOR OF THE CRYPT THERE ARE THE REMAINS OF A MOSAIC THAT SOMETIMES GET RUSTY, BUT NOT BECAUSE THE TILES ARE MADE OF METAL, BUT BECAUSE SOME TOURISTS SOMETIMES THROW A COIN IN IT TO GET LUCKY. SO THE MOSAIC GETS RUSTY AND THE CRYPT HAS TO BE EMPTIED TO BE CLEANED.
DANTE'S TOMB: BACK FROM VENICE TO RAVENNA DANTE PASSED FROM THE COMACCHIO VALLEY, A SWAMPY AREA, HE CONTRACTED MALARIA AND DIED IN SEPTEMBER 1321 IN RAVENNA. HIS FUNERAL HAD BEEN CELEBRATED INSIDE THE BASILICA OF SAN FRANCESCO. IN 1519 A TUSCAN DELEGATION WAS GRANTED PERMISSION TO TAKE BACK DANTE'S BONES AND BRING THEM TO FLORENCE. ONCE THEY ARRIVED AT THE SITE THEY OPENED THE GRAVE BUT THE BONES WERE GONE BECAUSE THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS FROM OUTSIDE MADE A HOLE IN THE WALL OF THE TEMPLE AND SO THEY STOLE THE BONES. THEN THE BONES OF DANTE WERE MISSING UNTIL 1865 WHEN, DURING THE RESTORATION WORK FOR THE SIXTH CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF DANTE, A FEW STEPS AWAY FROM THE TOMB OF THE POET A BRICKLAYER KNOCKED DOWN A DOOR AND FOUND A SMALL BOX WITH A WRITE ON IT THAT HE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND BECAUSE IT WAS ILLITERATE. LUCKILY A STUDENT FROM THE UNIVERSITY READ "OSSA DANTIS" (DANTE’S BONES) ON THE BOX, AND FROM THAT MOMENT ON DANTE'S BONES HAVE RESTED IN THE FUNERARY MONUMENT DEDICATED TO HIM.

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Brano Anywhen You Say
Artista Cheel
Album Anywhen You Say
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