The Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna is a masterpiece of early Christian architecture, renowned for its magnificent mosaics. This unique building, dating back to the 6th century, blends Western and Eastern architectural styles in a truly exceptional way. Upon entering this octagonal gem, you are immediately struck by the vibrant colors and intricate depictions of biblical scenes.

The magnificent 6th-century basilica, just a ten-minute walk from the old town, is one of the area's absolute highlights. Originally built by King Theoderic as an Arian palace chapel, it was later consecrated as a church in 561 under Byzantine rule. The basilica is renowned for its impressive mosaics, with the upper rows vividly depicting 13 scenes from the life of Christ and the Passion. The walls showcase a long procession of saints and martyrs, a true feast for the eyes. These mosaics, blending Arian and Orthodox iconography, create a unique and captivating artistic treasure.

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, is a true surprise when entering the unassuming, small building. With its stunning deep blue starry night sky mosaic, the building stands as a testament to artistic brilliance. The empress Galla Placida was responsible for the rich art we can find today in Ravenna.

The Baptistery of Neon is a Roman religious building in Ravenna, northeastern Italy. The most ancient monument remaining in the city, it was partly erected on the site of a Roman bath. It is also called the Orthodox Baptistery to distinguish it from the Arian Baptistery constructed on behest of Ostrogothic King Theodoric some 50 years later.

The Arian Baptistry in Ravenna, Italy is a Christian baptismal building that was erected by the Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great between the end of the 5th century and the beginning of the 6th century A.D., at the same time as the Basilica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo. Theodoric was an Arian Christian and decided to let the Goths and the Orthodox Chalcedonian Christians live together but separately, and so there were separate neighborhoods and separate religious buildings. Near his palace, the king commissioned an Arian cathedral, now called the Church of Spirito Santo, but originally named Hagia Anastasis. It was re-consecrated as the Chalcedonian cathedral of Saint Teodoro in 526 AD. Little remains of the original church after its reconstruction in 1543; some historians speculate that the original mosaics were lost over a thousand years earlier during its Catholic reconstruction due to Arian themes. During this same period, Theodoric also had the baptistry built, today referred to as of the Arians in order to distinguish it from the Baptistry of Neon which is about one century older.

The Tomb of Dante is an Italian neoclassical national monument built over the tomb of the poet Dante Alighieri in 1781. It is sited next to the Basilica of San Francesco in central Ravenna. The monument is surrounded by a zona dantesca, in which visitors have to remain silent and respectful. The small garden to the monument's right originated as the monastic cloister but now only has a colonnade on one side. The garden is traditionally named after the Quadrarco di Braccioforte, where two people invoked the strong arm of Christ to guarantee their contract and therefore had the image of that arm painted on the arch

The Archbishop's Chapel is a chapel on the first floor of the bishops' palace in Ravenna, Italy, the smallest of the famous mosaic sites of the city. It is a private oratory of Trinitarian bishops dating from the turn of the 6th century. Although commonly attributed to St. Peter Chrysologus, Archbishop of Ravenna from 433–450, the chapel was actually built by Peter II shortly after he became archbishop in 495. The mosaics date from the original construction, or soon after.

The palace of Theodoric was a structure in Ravenna, Italy, that was the residence of the Ostrogothic ruler and king of Italy Theodoric the Great, who was buried in the nearby Mausoleum of Theodoric. Both the location of the former palace and a large part of the ground plan can be gathered from excavations of the remains of foundations and walls carried out by Corrado Ricci in the period between 1907 and 1911 in the garden of the Monghini family and in the adjacent area between the Viale Farini und Via Alberoni. Ricci identified the building on the basis of lead sewer pipes on which the name of Theodoric was engraved. The palace lay behind San Apollinare Nuovo, Theodoric's cathedral church, and the partial building which is now referred to as the so-called Palace of Theodoric, which was erroneously believed to be a remnant of the palace for a long time. The lead pipes revealed by the excavation, along with other finds, are kept in a dedicated room of the National Museum, Ravenna. A large-scale mosaic depiction of the palace, located on the upper part of the southern interior wall of San Apollinare Nuovo and dating from the time of Theodoric, allows the palace to be reconstructed to a certain extent. From that, the palace seems not to have been very large. The relevant mosaic in San Apollinare Nuovo, which probably originally depicted Theodoric sitting on a horse in the centre and members of his court or his family in the two flanking colonnades, was altered after Theodoric's death in 526. Because he was an Arian, the Roman Church considered him a heretic. After his death, therefore, all images that depicted him and other people were removed from the mosaic and covered with other images. Of the original figures, the hands still remain on the columns of the palace. In the excavations, among other things, some remnants of the palace's mosaic floor were discovered. The mosaics were brought to the so-called Palace of Theodoric in 1923, where they were set up in a display room. In the display room, on the upper level, a poster with a plan of the excavated foundations was displayed as well.

San Giovanni Evangelista is a church in Ravenna, Italy. It was built in the fifth century AD by the Roman imperial princess Galla Placidia. In the Middle Ages the Benedictines annexed to it an important monastery. Two of the four bells date to 1208. In the 14th century both the church and the monastery were renovated in the Gothic style: of that intervention [http://www.edificistoriciravenna.it/en/san-giovanni-evangelista/ the portal is visible today]. In 1747 the church was almost entirely stripped of its mosaics; the only two remaining fragments of the original 5th-century floor record the first Christian use of hooked crosses. Heavily bombed during World War II, the building was later restored. Other mosaic fragments found surviving the WWII bombing belong to the 13th-century floor and [https://helenmilesmosaics.org/blog/mosaics-of-san-giovanni-evangelista/ depict the Fourth Crusade].

The Archiepiscopal Museum is located in Ravenna, Italy, next to the Baptistry of Neon and behind the Duomo of Ravenna. In the museum relics of early Christian Ravenna are preserved, including fragments of mosaic from the first cathedral church, and the chapel of Sant'Andrea, dating from the Gothic kingdom. The main room, on entering, contains lapidary inscriptions as HIC REQUIESCIT IN PACE VIR SBL SEDA IGNUCUS , CUBICULARIUS or 'Bedchamberlain' to Theodoric the Great, buried 541 AD. Beneath this, by the window, a reliquary for the martyred saints Quiricus and Julietta, whose remains were carried from Tarsus, the birthplace of Saint Paul, to Auxerre and from thence to Ravenna. The depictions on its four facings are in keeping with the theme of donation: Galla Placidia placed it in the church of San Giovanni Battista. They are: *Christ giving the Tables of the Law to St. Peter, with Paul standing by him; *Daniel in the lions' den, with the prophet Habakkuk offering him a loaf and fishes;

The Mausoleum of Theodoric is an ancient monument just outside Ravenna, Italy. It was built in AD 520 by Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, as his future tomb.

The Basilica of Santa Maria in Porto was an important church in Ravenna, not far from Porta Nuova, on the via Roma, the north–south high street across the historic city centre. It houses the Greek Madonna.

The Basilica of San Francesco is a major church in Ravenna. It was first built in 450 by Neo, bishop of Ravenna, and dedicated to saint Peter and Saint Paul. It was later also known as the Church of the Apostles. In the second half of the 9th century and over the course of the 10th century, the earlier church was demolished to build a larger one and a tall bell tower, both of which survive. This new church was dedicated to Saint Peter and named San Pietro Maggiore. It was handed over to the Franciscans in 1261 and rededicated to Francis of Assisi. Dante Alighieri's funeral was held in the church in 1321 and his remains still rest next to the church in the Tomb of Dante. Between 1500 and 1700 the church was restored again and again and Baroque altars and decorations were added. The most important restoration was that under Pietro Zumaglini in 1793. Ravenna was occupied by the French soon afterwards and in 1810 the monastery was suppressed, with its buildings confiscated by the authorities but the church kept open as a parish church, which it still is. Between 1918 and 1921, in preparation for the 600th anniversary of Dante's death, the church was radically restored, removing all the Baroque additions and returning it to something like its original style. A competition was held during the anniversary for a new scheme inside the church based on Dante's best known work, the Divine Comedy. Adolfo De Carolis won the competition but his sudden death prevented his scheme from being realised. The crypt was restored between 1926 and 1970 and in 1949 the Franciscans took on the church once again. Instead of the old monastery buildings, they moved into a building opposite the church and continued to run it as a parish church.

Ravenna Cathedral or Metropolitan Cathedral of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in the city of Ravenna, Italy. Formerly the archiepiscopal seat of the Archdiocese of Ravenna, it is now the seat of the archbishops of Ravenna-Cervia. It was granted the status of a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII on 7 October 1960. It is the seat of the parish of San Giovanni in Fonte belonging to the Urban Vicariate of the archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia.

The Museo Nazional di Ravenna or National Museum of Ravenna displays a collection of archeologic, artistic and artisanal objects. It is located in the Benedictine monastery of San Vitale on via San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy. The collection, initially assembled through the efforts of local erudite Camaldolese monks, was established as a museum in 1885, and moved to this site by the early 20th century. It contains a large collection of Ancient Roman artifacts, including lapidary epitaphs and portions from sepulchral monuments. The artifacts date from early Roman through Byzantine in scope. It also displays Renaissance bronzes, and ivory collection, a large number of icons, ceramics, and ancient armor and weapons. Also on display is the detached 14th-century frescoes, originally from the church of Santa Clara, completed by Pietro da Rimini.

Classe was a commercial port located east south east from Ravenna, Italy. It was near the head of the Adriatic coast. For almost five hundred years it was an important strategic military port. When it was not being used as a military port, it was an important commercial port for the imperial capital of Ravenna in the Roman Empire. Classe comes from the Latin word classis, meaning fleet.

The Biblioteca Classense is the public library of Ravenna, Italy. In 1803, with the Napoleonic suppression of monasteries and religious institutions, a library was created to harbor the confiscated books. They were housed in the Library of the Camaldolese Monastery, which had been founded in the 17th century by the Abbott Pietro Canneti in the Abbey of Classe. The collection includes manuscript codices, incunabula, prints, musical works, and numerous artworks and books. Added to the collection included the library of the architect Camillo Morigia and the art critic Corrado Ricci. The library has a large collection of editions of the works related to Dante Alighieri.

The Teatro Comunale Alighieri is an opera house located at 2 Via Mariani in Ravenna, Italy and designed by the Venetian architects, Tommaso Meduna and his brother, Giambattista who had designed the second La Fenice theatre after the fire of 1836. The new Teatro Comunale Alighieri was inaugurated on 15 May 1852 with a production of Meyerbeer's Robert le diable, followed by Giovanni Pacini's Medea. It presently offers a program of up to six operas during the season which runs from November to April. For about 125 years following 1723, Ravenna had one main theatre for the presentation of opera, the Teatro Comunitativo located outside the centre of the city. It featured a lavishly decorated, U-shaped baroque auditorium with 97 boxes on four tiers. In the 50 years following 1802, it presented 170 operatic productions, 24 of which were by Rossini, 22 by Donizetti, and 10 by Verdi. However, the 1830s and 1840s revealed its inadequacy, and plans were made to build a new theatre in the heart of the city; the cornerstone of the replacement theatre was laid in 1840. With construction continuing until 1852, the new Teatro Comunale was named for the famous poet, Dante Aligheri, who had been exiled from Florence and then spent the last four years of his life in Ravenna. Reflecting the style of the Venetian brothers, the exterior of the Alighieri is neo-classical with a four ionic columns and a portico with statues of four Muses. With 118 boxes in four tiers plus a gallery, the auditorium was constructed in the traditional horseshoe shape with 830 seats.

Santa Maria del Suffragio is a Late-Baroque-style, Roman Catholic church located on Via Serafino Ferruzzi in Ravenna, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy. The church was designed by Francesco Fontana, son of Carlo Fontana, and erected between 1701 and 1728. The church was commissioned by the Confraternity of Beata Vergine dei Suffragi. The layout of the church is octagonal. Antonio Martinetti sculpted the eight stucco statues of the inside. The main altarpiece is by Andrea Barbiani. The statues and bas-reliefs of the façade are by Celio and Giovanni Toschini.

San Giovanni Battista is a baroque church in the historic center of Ravenna, Italy, built in 1689 by Pietro Grossi. The church here, a three-nave basilica, was built in the 6th century. In 1688, it was strongly damaged by an earthquake, demolished, and a new building was constructed in the same place. Parts of the apse of the old building survived, as well as the bell-tower built in the 9th-10th centuries.