Ravenna

City in Emilia-Romagna, Italy

This article is about the city in Italy. For other uses, see Ravenna (disambiguation).

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Comune in Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Ravenna Ravèna ( Collage of Ravenna
Coat of arms
Location of Ravenna
Ravenna Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna) Show map of Emilia-Romagna
Coordinates: 44°24′58″N 12°12′06″E / 44.41611°N 12.20167°E / 44.41611; 12.20167
Country	Italy
Region	Emilia-Romagna
Province	Ravenna (RA)
Frazioni	(subdivisions) Casalborsetti, Lido di Savio, Lido di Classe, Lido di Dante, Lido Adriano, Marina di Ravenna, Punta Marina Terme, Porto Corsini, Porto Fuori, Marina Romea, Ammonite, Camerlona, Mandriole, Savarna, Grattacoppa, Conventello, Torri, Mezzano, Sant'Antonio, San Romualdo, Sant'Alberto, Borgo Montone, Fornace Zarattini, Piangipane, San Marco, San Michele, Santerno, Villanova di Ravenna, Borgo Sisa, Bastia, Borgo Faina, Carraie, Campiano, Casemurate, Caserma, Castiglione di Ravenna, Classe, Coccolia, Ducenta, Durazzano, Filetto, Fosso Ghiaia, Gambellara, Ghibullo, Longana, Madonna dell'Albero, Massa Castello, Mensa Matellica, Osteria, Pilastro, Roncalceci, Ragone, Santo Stefano, San Bartolo, San Zaccaria, Savio, S. Pietro in Trento, San Pietro in Vincoli, San Pietro in Campiano
Government
• Mayor	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	48100
Dialing code	0544
Patron saint	Saint Apollinaris
Saint day	July 23
Website	Official website

Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna

Mosaic of the Emperor Justinian I from the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna
Criteria	Cultural: i, ii, iii, iv
Reference	788
Inscription	1996 (20th Session)
Area	1.32 ha

Ravenna (

Romagnol: Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 for most of the 5th century until its collapse in 476.^[4] It then served as the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom until it was re-conquered in 540 by the Byzantine Empire. Afterwards, the city formed the centre of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until the last exarch was executed by the Lombards

in 751.

Although it is an inland city, Ravenna is connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Candiano Canal. It is known for its well-preserved late Roman and Byzantine architecture, with eight buildings comprising the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna".^[5] Because of the high concentration of mosaics, the city has been associated with workshops and schools teaching mosaics, and is often given titles like the "capital of mosaics".^[6][7][8]

History

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Ravenna.

The origin of the name Ravenna is unclear. Some have speculated that "Ravenna" is related to "Rasenna" (or "Rasna"), the term that the Etruscans used for themselves, but there is no agreement on this point.^[9][10]

Ancient era

The origins of Ravenna are uncertain.

Po River Delta, but later accepted it into the Roman Republic as a federated town in 89 BC

.

In 49 BC, it was where

Marbod, King of the Marcomanni

, were confined at Ravenna.

Peutinger Map

After many vicissitudes, Galla Placidia returned to Ravenna with her son, Emperor Valentinian III, due to the support of her nephew Theodosius II. Ravenna enjoyed a period of peace, during which time the Christian religion was favoured by the imperial court, and the city gained some of its most famous monuments, including the Orthodox Baptistry, the misnamed Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (she was not actually buried there), and San Giovanni Evangelista.

Ostrogothic Kingdom

The late 5th century saw the dissolution of Roman authority in the west, and

The Mausoleum of Theodoric

Both Odoacer and Theodoric and their followers were Arian Christians, but co-existed peacefully with the Latins, who were largely Catholic Orthodox. Ravenna's Orthodox bishops carried out notable building projects, of which the sole surviving one is the Cappella Arcivescovile. Theodoric allowed Roman citizens within his kingdom to be subject to Roman law and the Roman judicial system. The Goths, meanwhile, lived under their own laws and customs. In 519, when a mob had burned down the synagogues of Ravenna, Theodoric ordered the town to rebuild them at its own expense.

Theodoric died in 526 and was succeeded by his young grandson

From 540 to 600, Ravenna's bishops embarked upon a notable building program of churches in Ravenna and in and around the port city of Classe. Surviving monuments include the Basilica of San Vitale and the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, as well as the partially surviving San Michele in Africisco.

Exarchate of Ravenna

Transfiguration of Jesus. Allegorical image with Crux gemmata and lambs represent apostles, 533–549, apse of Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe

.

Following the conquests of Belisarius for Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century, Ravenna became the seat of the Byzantine governor of Italy, the Exarch, and was known as the Exarchate of Ravenna. It was at this time that the Ravenna Cosmography was written.

Under Byzantine rule, the archbishop of the

Ravenna was ruled by Venice until 1509, when the area was invaded in the course of the Italian Wars. In 1512, during the Holy League wars, Ravenna was sacked by the French following the Battle of Ravenna. Ravenna was also known during the Renaissance as the birthplace of the Monster of Ravenna.

After the Venetian withdrawal, Ravenna was again ruled by legates of the Pope as part of the Papal States. The city was damaged in a tremendous flood in May 1636. Over the next 300 years, a network of

An 18th-century quattrino from Ravenna depicting Saint Apollinaris

Apart from another short occupation by Venice (1527–1529), Ravenna was part of the Papal States until 1796, when it was annexed to the French puppet state of the Cisalpine Republic (Italian Republic from 1802, and Kingdom of Italy from 1805). It was returned to the Papal States in 1814. Occupied by Piedmontese troops in 1859, Ravenna and the surrounding Romagna area became part of the new unified Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

During World War II, the town suffered severe damage. Fifty-two Allied bombing raids during the course of the Second World War had taken their toll, destroying some of Ravenna's noteworthy, unequalled early Christian art. Bombs intended for the railway station and its sidings had pulverised the Basilica of San Giovanni Evangelista in August 1944.^[17] On 5 December 1944 troops of 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards, 5th Canadian Armoured Division and the British 27th Lancers entered and liberated Ravenna. A total of 937 Commonwealth soldiers who died in the winter of 1944–45 are buried in Ravenna War Cemetery, including 438 Canadians.^[18]

Government

Main sights

Triumphal arch mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale

Garden of Eden mosaic in mausoleum of Galla Placidia

(5th century CE)

Arian Baptistry ceiling mosaic

6th-century mosaic

in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, portrays Jesus long-haired and bearded, dressed in Byzantine style.

The Arian Baptistry

Dante's tomb exterior and interior, built in 1780

The so-called "Mausoleum of Galla Placidia" in Ravenna

Mosaic of the Palace of Theodoric in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo

• Orthodox Baptistery also called Baptistry of Neon (c. 430)
• Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (c. 430)
• Arian Baptistery (c. 500)
• Archiepiscopal Chapel (c. 500)
• Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (c. 500)
• Mausoleum of Theodoric (520)
• Basilica of San Vitale (548)
• Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe (549)

Other attractions include:

• The church of San Giovanni Evangelista is from the 5th century, erected by Galla Placidia after she survived a storm at sea. It was restored after the World War II bombings. The belltower contains four bells, the two majors dating back to 1208.
• The 6th-century church of the Spirito Santo, which has been quite drastically altered since the 6th century. It was originally the Arian cathedral. The façade has a 16th-century portico with five arcades.
• The Basilica of San Francesco, rebuilt in the 10th–11th centuries over a precedent edifice dedicated to the Apostles and later to St. Peter. Behind the humble brick façade, it has a nave and two aisles. Fragments of mosaics from the first church are visible on the floor, which is usually covered by water after heavy rains (together with the crypt). Here the funeral ceremony of Dante Alighieri was held in 1321. The poet is buried in a tomb annexed to the church, the local authorities having resisted for centuries all demands by Florence for return of the remains of its most famous exile.
• The Baroque church of Santa Maria Maggiore (525–532, rebuilt in 1671). It houses a picture by Luca Longhi.
• The church of San Giovanni Battista (1683), also in Baroque style, with a Middle Ages campanile.
• The basilica of Santa Maria in Porto (16th century), with a rich façade from the 18th century. It has a nave and two aisles, with a high cupola. It houses the image of famous Greek Madonna, which was allegedly brought to Ravenna from Constantinople.
• The nearby Communal Gallery has various works from Romagnoli painters.
• The Rocca Brancaleone ("Brancaleone Castle"), built by the Venetians in 1457. Once part of the city walls, it is now a public park. It is divided into two parts: the true Castle and the Citadel, the latter having an extent of 14,000 m² (150,694.75 sq ft).
• The "so-called Palace of Theodoric", in fact the entrance to the former church of
  San Salvatore. It includes mosaics from the true palace
  of the Ostrogoth king.
• The church of Sant'Eufemia (18th century), gives access to the so-called Stone Carpets Domus (6th–7th century): this houses splendid mosaics from a Byzantine palace.
• The National Museum
• The Archiepiscopal Museum

Music

The city annually hosts the Ravenna Festival, one of Italy's prominent classical music gatherings. Opera performances are held at the Teatro Alighieri while concerts take place at the Palazzo Mauro de André as well as in the ancient Basilica of San Vitale and Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe. Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti, a longtime resident of the city, regularly participates in the festival, which invites orchestras and other performers from around the world.

In literature