Tom`s travels: Ravenna (09/04/2016)

Thanks to my friend Mauro, I was able to participate with his university class in a trip to Ravenna. I was also lucky as the teacher accompanying us was one of the major experts on mosaics in the whole of Italy. So after reaching Mestre I got on the bus and headed south reaching Ravenna 2 hours later. We started our visit with the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista, considered as the oldest church in town and first built at the beginning of the 5th century. It was later reconstructed in the 13th-14th in the Gothic style as we see it today. The main entrance has a beautiful Gothic portal that leads into a small courtyard where the actual church entrance is located. Inside the building, which was unfortunately heavily bombed in 1944, there are still many roman columns with beautiful decorations, but most importantly there are all along the sides some really amazing and well made mosaics dating from 1216 that depict scenes from the 4th crusade. After heading out we directed ourselves to the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, first built at the beginning of the 6th century by the king of the Ostrogoths; Theoderic. Inside the building the two main sides are completely covered in mosaics, the largest mosaic area in the world, dating from different periods. In fact the upper part was built during Theoderic's reign and the figures are more natural looking, like those in the early roman times. The lower part was decorated when the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I reconquered Ravenna, and the figures as in byzantine tradition look more simple and still. On the right side is a procession of Saints leaving the Palace built by Theoderic and heading towards Christ, and on the left one another procession of Virgins lead by the Three Magi leaving the Port of Classis, the ancient port of Ravenna, and heading towards the Madonna and Child. It's quite interesting to note how on the mosaic depicting the Palace there used to be figures of people, noticed by some hands still remaining on the columns, which were later eliminated during Justinian's reign since they were believed to be heretic depictions. Exiting the church we decided it was time for lunch so together with the group we went to a place called Ca' de Ven where we all had Piadina, a flatbread typical of this region, with burrata, a type of creamy mozzarella, and some ham cuts; very tasty! obviously all accompanied by a good red wine. After lunch it was time to get back to visiting. so we headed to the next monument; the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Built around 425 it was first built as the private burial grounds for the Empress Galla Placidia who died and was buried in Rome and thus wasn't able to use it. The building is very small and has a latin cross plan with clear byzantine influences. The atmosphere inside is clearly magical, as the place is very dark but is fully covered in mosaics while light enters through small alabaster windows and the decorated central dome with bright yellow stars on a blue background give the impression of a mystical place. There are also two very important mosaics, one depicting Christ as the Good Shepherd, and the other probably depicting Saint Lawrence. Right next to the Mausoleum is the impressive Basilica of San Vitale built in the 6th century. Built in a rare octagonal plan, it used to be fully covered in mosaics which now only remain in the presbytery while the rest is still quite nice to see as the main dome is covered in a splendid 18th century frescoe and the rest of the church is decorated with impressive marbles and floor mosaics. The presbytery mosaics depict several stories such as that of Abraham and Melchizedek, and the Sacrifice of Isaac; the story of Moses and the Burning Bush, Jeremiah and Isaiah, representatives of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the story of Abel and Cain. There are also two really famous and important mosaics; one depicting Emperor Justinian I, clad in imperial purple, with a halo above his head to symbolize his power over church and state and the other one depicting Empress Theodora also with a halo, purple dress and crown and jewels. We walked on and then reached the Baptistry of Neon, which stands right next to the Cathedral. Built around the 5th century, it is also known as the Orthodox Baptistry to distinguish it from the Arian one on the other side of town. The vaulted dome has a beautiful mosaic from the 6th century depicting John the Baptist baptizing Jesus (depicted with a beard) in the Jordan river. All around are the 12 Apostles in white garments and below the mosaics are some really nice marbles with the baptismal font at the center of the building. Right next to the Cathedral we also went to see the Archiepiscopal Museum that had some truly great religious art including a magnificent Throne of Maximian made of ivory and carved in the 6th century. But most impressive was the small inside Chapel built at the end of the 5th century and dedicated to St Andrew with more impressive roman mosaics. Very interesting is the mosaic depicting Christ as a warrior, with the cross on his shoulder, in the act of vanquishing the beasts of heresy; Arianism. After a bit of walking and passing through the city's main square; Piazza del Popolo, we reached the Arian Baptistry. Built around 100 years after the other one, so around the end of the 5th century, it was used by the Arian part of the population. It holds another impressive mosaic depicting John the Baptist baptizing Jesus (who is here beardless as typical in Arian style) and an old man dressed in green who is supposed to represent the river Jordan; all around are the 12 Apostles. It was then time for our last stop: the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe built in the 6th century, which sits south of Ravenna and used to be the main church of the Port of Classe. The structure is that of a typical basilica with a main nave and two aisles separated by greek columns with capitals in the form of acanthus leaves. It was probably once fully covered in mosaics, though now only the main apse is. However the remaining mosaic is quite amazing and represents several figures: at the top a huge cross on a starry field, on top of which comes out a hand symbol of God, below is Saint Apollinaris surround by lambs symbolizing the faithful and praying to God. All around the church sides stand some really interesting roman sarcophagi. After this church we were all done with our wonderful trip, and getting back on the bus we headed back to Mestre where I eventually took a train back home clearly satisfied in seeing some amazing mosaics and churches all inscribed in the Unesco World Heritage List.