Marvelous Mosaics!

December 29-31, 2022

Another quick train ride, and we were walking the streets of Ravenna!  In addition to the delicious food, addictive cappuccinos and quaint streets, our goal in Ravenna was to experience the 1,500-year-old churches, decorated with Byzantine mosaics this city is famous for!  

We stayed at Hotel Albergo Capello during our stay in Ravenna. This hotel is one of Ravenna’s longest-standing hotels!  It was once a palazzo (palace) in the historic center of Ravenna!  After getting settled in, we took off to see the first of the basilicas with mosaics. This first visit was to the Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo. One side of this basilica features mosaics of the miracles that Jesus performed.  On the opposite side were mosaics of the passion of Christ. It’s incredible the detail that has been accomplished in these mosaics!  To see these mosaics in person is nothing less than a jaw-dropping experience!  All of this beautiful art was a method of educating, as most people of the time were illiterate. Today, even the literate can learn much from studying this amazing work!

Wandering through the streets of Ravenna, we stopped for an espresso and a pastry, before finding a little gift shop. After making a few purchases, the clerk recommended we have dinner at Ca’ de Vin.  This was a local favorite of the clerk, along with a lot of residents of Ravenna. It was nice to be out of the touristy area and enjoy the local cheese, piadina (bread that is special to Ravenna), wine and delicious pasta!  Funny note:  when the owner of our hotel learned where we planned to have dinner, her comment was a bit of a snobbish “blue collar”!  

At dinner, we met Father Ben, a priest from St. Louis, who was touring Ravenna to see the mosaics as well! He’s working on a Ph.D. degree and is spending a semester studying in Rome. It was fun comparing notes as to what to see during our brief visit to Ravenna.  Father Ben highly recommended we include touring Basilica Di Sant’ Apollinare in Classe, so we quickly added that to our itinerary!

Our second day in Ravenna took us to several other sites with indescribably beautiful mosaics! Stopping by a bar (coffee shop) on our way was irresistible!  Inside this coffee shop, we found the owner of the shop preparing the dough for piadina!  It only took one question for him to begin pointing out pictures of his family that decorated the store’s walls!  This coffee shop has been in his family for generations!  I can’t speak to the quality of his piadina, but his cappuccinos were top notch!  Another note:  a stop at a bar is always a quick stop.  People take their espresso or cappuccino at the bar (standing up).  It’s a quick couple of sips and a short conversation with the barista and you are on your way again!  This stop also doesn’t break the bank!  An espresso was typically €1.25; a cappuccino was €1.50.

Our next stop was at the Mausoleo di Galla Placidia, quite possibly my favorite! This small, cross-shaped mausoleum was built out of bricks from Roman buildings following the fall of Rome.  Ravennians were already into recycling during the 5th century!  Visitors must reserve a date and time for their tour of the mausoleum. Once you are there, to help protect these mosaics, you’re allowed only five minutes inside. One of the two most famous mosaics in the mausoleum is believed to be depicting martyred St. Lawrence running towards the fire.  The other is of a young Jesus pictured as the good shepherd. 

Each of the tiny glass tiles in the mosaics is set slightly on edge, allowing the light to sparkle off of the glass in a unique way!  This, combined with the alabaster glass in the windows and the flickering of the original candles, make this mosaic twinkle like the stars at night!  It's impossible to catch with the camera, but it is truly magical!

Adjacent to Mausloeo di Galla Placidia is the Basilica di San Vitale!  This huge basilica was consecrated in 548 AD!  

Battistero Neoniano was another amazing stop!  This baptistry is one of the oldest monuments in Ravenna!  Located in the center of the baptistry sits the baptismal font.  The dome, situated directly above the font, has a mosaic of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus surrounded by the 12 apostles!  Again, you need to have a timed entrance reserved ahead of time and are only allowed 5 minutes inside this amazing baptistry!

Cappella di Sant'Andrea was built as a private chapel by Bishop Peter II during Theoderic’s rule.  It is the only well-preserved archiepiscopal chapel of the Early Christian era.  Mosaics clearly depict the Trinity.  The nature of Christ was a huge debate at the time, which makes this a pretty special mosaic!  My favorite showed a young (beardless) Jesus trampling a great lion and a serpent, symbolic of Christ’s defeat of the devil.

The route from one mosaic location to the next took us near Dante's Tomb, a no-brainer of a stop!  Dante had been banned from his home town of Florence, but after his death, his body was highly sought after by Florence!  The monks resented that Florence had banned him, so hid his body, making it impossible to relocate his tomb.  As the story goes, the monks who hid his body kept it a secret to their death and it was quite some time before his remains were discovered.  Apparently, during WWII, Hitler also wanted Dante’s body, so once again, Dante’s remains were hidden!  At least for today, his tomb is accessible and easy to view!  I’m hoping Dante can remain in this tomb and finally rest in peace!

Although Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe is located 8 km from the city center, Fr. Ben’s advice of going there was sound!  There, we found more stunning mosaics with all kinds of symbolism!  As we were studying them, I found myself wishing Fr. Ben was there to explain them to me!  I swear, I had no more had this thought, when I turned around, and there stood Fr. Ben!  Fr. Ben was so kind and spent quite of bit of time pointing out all of the small details of these mosaics!  Unbelievable timing!

Our last night in Ravenna was spent having another delicious dinner of pasta and fine wine, toasting to the history and beauty of this incredible city!  The next morning, we caught the fast train from Ravenna to Bologna where we caught a connecting train to Milan!

Up next: Milan!!