Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ravenna's Cumulative Ticket & Open Hours
They keep changing the way this works, but currently a single
€
7.50 cumulative
ticket, valid for 7 days, covers admission to the Basilica di San Vitale, the
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Battistero Neoniano, the Cappella di San Andrea/
Museo Arcivescovile, and the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.
All sights are open daily as follows: November to February 10am to 4:30pm;
March and October 9:30am to 5:30pm; and April to September 9:30am to 7pm
(exception: Mar-Oct, San Vitale and Galla Placidia open at 9am). For more infor-
mation, call
%
0544-541688, or visit www.ravennamosaici.it.
as the baptistery of a cathedral that no longer stands; it's now behind Ravenna's
banal present-day Duomo, built in the 19th century. Fittingly for the structure's
purpose, the blue-and-gold mosaics on the dome depict the baptism of Christ by
St. John the Baptist, surrounded by the Twelve Apostles.
Nearby is the tiny
Museo Arcivescovile & Cappella di San Andrea
(Piazza
Arcivescovado; for all details, see “Ravenna's Cumulative Ticket & Open Hours,”
above),
housed in the 6th-century Archbishop's Palace. The highlight of the one-
room collection is the stupefyingly intricate ivory throne of Emperor Maximilian.
Adjoining the museum is a small chapel built in the shape of a cross and dedi-
cated to St. Andrea, every inch of which is emblazoned with dazzling mosaics.
Sadly, this is currently closed for renovations and may remain so for years.
The famous mosaics in the 6th-century
Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo
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(Via di Roma; for all details, see “Ravenna's Cumulative Ticket & Open Hours,”
above),
punctuated by Greek columns taken from a temple, are clearly delineated
by gender. On one side of the church, the side traditionally reserved for women,
a procession of 22 crown-carrying virgins makes its way toward the Madonna; on
the other, 26 male martyrs march toward Christ. The mosaics near the door pro-
vide a fascinating look at the 6th-century city and its environs—one on the right
shows the monuments of the city, including Emperor Theodoric's royal palace,
and one on the left shows the port city of Classe.
Silt covered that ancient port long ago, but Ravenna's final grand 6th-century
sight remains there, a 15-minute bus ride south of town, looming above farm fields
and pine woods: the early-Christian basilica and campanile of
Sant'Apollinare in
Classe
(Via Romeo Sud, 224, Classe;
%
0544-473569;
€
2; Tues-Sat
8:30am-7:30pm, Sun 1-7:30pm; bus: 4 or 44 from Piazza Farini in front of the
train station, every 20 min.).
The plain exterior belies a splendor within, a long
sparse nave punctuated by Greek columns, capped by an apse dome slathered
with lustrous gold mosaics. Imagine how transporting the effect was when the
floor, too, was tiled in gold mosaic. The dominating figure depicted here, flanked
by 12 lambs representing the apostles, is St. Apollinare, bishop of Ravenna.
PARMA
Its prosciutto di Parma hams and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses are justly famous,
as they have been since Roman times, but the pleasures of this exquisite little city
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