Between the fifth and sixth centuries, a city surrounded by marshes was capital of the Western Roman Empire, of the Ostrogothic kingdom and of Byzantine rule in Italy. Each power left churches covered in mosaics, and many have survived almost intact for fifteen hundred years. Twelve stops between the Venetians' square, Dante's tomb and his hidden bones, the flooded crypt with fish, Theodoric's procession of martyrs, the baptistery of the Arians, the baptistery of the bishops, the warrior Christ, Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora, the starry sky of Galla Placidia, the monastery museum, the Gothic king's tomb with its single-stone roof and the green basilica of the port of Classe. Approximate audio duration: 23 minutes.
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Rávena: la ciudad que fue tres veces capital y guardó su oro en las paredes
Entre los siglos V y VI, una ciudad rodeada de pantanos fue capital del Imperio romano de Occidente, del reino de los ostrogodos y del dominio bizantino en Italia. Cada poder dejó sus iglesias cubiertas de mosaicos, y muchos sobrevivieron casi intactos durante mil quinientos años. Doce paradas entre la plaza de los venecianos, la tumba de Dante y sus huesos escondidos, la cripta inundada con peces, la procesión de mártires de Teodorico, el bautisterio de los arrianos, el bautisterio de los obispos, el Cristo guerrero, el emperador Justiniano y la emperatriz Teodora, el cielo estrellado de Gala Placidia, el museo del monasterio, la tumba del rey godo con su techo de una sola piedra y la basílica verde del puerto de Classe. Duración aproximada de audio: 23 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~23 min of audio · 10.74 km on foot (~2 h 40 min walking) · about 3 h 15 min in total
You are standing in Piazza del Popolo, Ravenna's living room. Look at the two granite columns at the far end, with the patron saints on top. They were raised by the Venetians, who ruled the city for much of the fifteenth century.
But the story we have come for is far older. In 402, Emperor Honorius moved the court of the Western Roman Empire from Milan to here. He wanted a refuge from invaders.
Ravenna was perfect for that. It was surrounded by marshes and lagoons, almost impossible to besiege by land. And next to it lay Classe, the port where Augustus had stationed one of Rome's great fleet…
2
The Bones Florence Never Got Back
In front of you stands a small white shrine, almost modest. Inside rests Dante Alighieri. This street is a zone of silence, so lower your voice.
In 1302 Florence sentenced Dante to exile at the hands of his political enemies. He never returned. After years of wandering Italy, around 1318 he came to Ravenna, invited by the lord of the city, Guido Novello da Polenta.
Here he finished Paradise, the last part of the Divine Comedy. In September 1321, returning from a diplomatic mission to Venice, he fell ill with fever and died. He was buried beside the church of San Francesco, right next door.
…
3
The Crypt Where Fish Swim
You are in front of the basilica of San Francesco, a plain brick facade. Here, in 1321, Dante's funeral was held.
The church is much older than the Franciscans. It was founded in the fifth century by Bishop Neon, whom you will meet again in one of the baptisteries. The friars only received it in the thirteenth century.
Go in and walk to the high altar. Beneath it lies a tenth-century crypt. Look through the little window.
The crypt is flooded. Water covers the floor, and beneath the surface you can make out an ancient mosaic. And between the columns, goldfish swim.
This is no decorative wh…
4
Theodoric's Church and the Hands Left Behind
You have entered Sant'Apollinare Nuovo. Look up: on both sides of the nave, above the columns, run two immensely long bands of mosaic on a gold ground.
Theodoric had it built in the early sixth century as his palace church. Theodoric was a Christian, but an Arian, like most Goths. Arians held that the Son was not equal to the Father, and Rome and Constantinople considered them heretics.
On the right, twenty-six martyrs dressed in white advance towards Christ enthroned. On the left, twenty-two virgins walk towards the Virgin and Child, led by the three Magi in Phrygian caps.
But those proces…
5
The Baptistery of the Goths
Look down before you look up. This small octagonal brick building is sunken, and its original floor now lies more than two metres below today's street.
This is the Arian Baptistery. Theodoric built it at the end of the fifth or start of the sixth century for the Gothic community. The city had two parallel churches: that of the Catholic Romans and that of the Arian Goths, each with its own bishop and its own baptistery.
Look inside and up at the dome. In the centre, Christ is baptised in the River Jordan. He is a beardless young man, naked, waist-deep in water.
On one side stands John the Ba…
6
The Bishops' Baptistery
You are beside the cathedral, and next to it stands another octagonal brick building, sturdier and older. This is the Neonian Baptistery, the oldest monument in Ravenna that still keeps its mosaics.
It was built around the year 400, next to the city's first cathedral. In the mid-fifth century Bishop Neon had it decorated, which is where the name comes from. The cathedral you see today, on the other hand, was rebuilt in the eighteenth century.
Go in. The octagon is no accident: eight symbolised the resurrection, the day after the seventh, the start of a new creation. Here adults were baptised…
7
Christ in Armour
You are in the Archiepiscopal Museum, in the palace of the bishops of Ravenna. Climb up to a tiny chapel, the Chapel of Saint Andrew. It is so small only a few people fit inside at once.
The chapel was made around the year 500, under Bishop Peter II. In other words, in the middle of Theodoric's reign. It is the only Catholic monument with mosaics to survive from that period in the city.
In the vestibule, find the mosaic of Christ. This is not the gentle Christ of other churches. He wears a breastplate and military cloak like a Roman general, carries a cross on his shoulder and tramples a lio…
8
Justinian and Theodora, Who Never Came
You have entered San Vitale. It is not a long basilica like the others: it is a tall octagon with upper galleries, and light pours in from above. Walk slowly towards the presbytery, where green and gold explode.
Bishop Ecclesius began it around 526, the year Theodoric died. A wealthy local banker, Julianus Argentarius, paid for it. And Bishop Maximian consecrated it in 547, when Ravenna was already Byzantine.
In the apse, a young, beardless Christ sits on the globe of the world. On one side he hands a crown to Saint Vitalis; on the other, Bishop Ecclesius offers him a model of the church.
N…
9
An Empress's Blue Sky
In front of you is a low, cross-shaped brick building, almost bare on the outside. This is the so-called Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Do not be fooled by the exterior: inside is one of the most intense interiors in Ravenna.
Galla Placidia lived a life worthy of a novel. She was the daughter of Emperor Theodosius. In 410, when the Visigoths sacked Rome, they carried her off as a hostage. She married their king, Ataulf. Later, widowed, she returned to Italy and married a Roman general.
Her son, Valentinian III, became emperor as a child, and for years she governed the Western Empire in his nam…
10
The Monastery That Keeps the Fragments
You are in the cloisters of the former Benedictine monastery of San Vitale. Today they house Ravenna's National Museum.
Here is gathered what the city accumulated over two thousand years: Roman tombstones of sailors from the fleet at Classe, early Christian reliefs, ivories, coins, textiles and ceramics.
Look for the room with the frescoes from Santa Chiara. They date from the fourteenth century, painted by Pietro da Rimini for a church in the city. They were detached from the walls and brought here to save them.
That contrast helps you understand what you have seen so far. Fresco is painte…
11
The Gothic King's Tomb and Its Single-Stone Roof
You are standing before the Mausoleum of Theodoric. It is unlike anything else you have seen today: no brick, no mosaic. It is solid white stone, two storeys high, with a low, flattened dome.
Theodoric had it built around 520, a few years before his death in 526. He used blocks of Istrian stone, shipped across from the far shore of the Adriatic and fitted together almost without mortar.
Look up at the roof. The dome is a single block of stone about ten metres across, weighing more than two hundred tonnes. No one knows for certain how it was raised.
Notice the twelve stone lugs projecting fr…
12
The Green Basilica of the Lost Port
You are in front of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, a large brick basilica in the middle of the countryside, with a round bell tower beside it. It looks isolated. But there was once a city here.
This was Classe, the naval port founded by Augustus, where Rome's Adriatic fleet lay at anchor. Over the centuries river sediment filled it in, and today the sea is several kilometres away. The round bell tower was added much later, around the tenth and eleventh centuries.
The basilica was consecrated in 549 by Bishop Maximian, the same as at San Vitale, and paid for by the same banker, Julianus Argentari…
How long does the "Ravenna: Three Times a Capital, Its Gold Kept on the Walls" audio tour take?
It has about 23 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 10.74 km walking route (~2 h 40 min on foot). Plan roughly 3 h 15 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Capital Hidden Among the Marshes" (coordinates 44.41755, 12.20125). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Ravenna and pick "Ravenna: Three Times a Capital, Its Gold Kept on the Walls". No account required to start.
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