Ravenna & It's Byzantine Mosaics
Dec 8, 2011 0:14:02 GMT
Post by fumobici on Dec 8, 2011 0:14:02 GMT
Ravenna is located just off the Adriatic coast about midway between Bologna, the republic of San Marino and Venice. It's a charming little city at the Eastern edge of the huge and flat Po valley probably best known for its incredible partimony of Byzantine monuments.
We'll start at the perhaps most amazing, San Vitale a 6th century basilica.
This is the courtyard of the cloisters attached to the basilica.
The dome.
The next few are the jaw dropping presystery:
The exterior:
On the grounds is the older Mausileo di Galla Placida built to house the remains of the daughter of the late Roman emperor Theodosius I who died in the mid 4th c. As mausileums tend to be, it was dark in there so forgive the photo.
And we'll stroll from here...
This is the splendid covered market. Great place to explore and grab a cheap bite.
The Piazza del Popolo. the town's central square.
Thenearby Chiesa del Suffragio
And on to Dante's tomb:
Dante's remains were hidden by the locals here nearby during the second World War so they wouldn't wind up in Berlin I guess.
Loved the fencing nearby.
Just a sunny courtyard!
Next stop: San Apollinare Nuovo, another 6th c. basilica originally Arian. More mosaics.
Next, the Battisero Neoniano and the ciy's duomo.
This is the baptistry exterior.
The baptistry itself is 4th century and beautifully preserved inside.
The nearby little museum has the amazing ivory cathedra/throne of some bigshot bishop named Maximian:
...and another mosaic.
Then a quick walk through the city's duomo which nice but can't compare to the Byzantine stuff.
Last stop on our way out will be San Apollinare in Classe, another 6th c. Basilica. This is odd insofar as it's kind of out in the middle of nowhere. I'm told there was a town surrounding it but it no longer exists.
The apse is stunningly mosaiced. The colors are surely as vivid as when it was new.
So there, Ravenna. Mosaic lovers, you simply must go.
We'll start at the perhaps most amazing, San Vitale a 6th century basilica.
This is the courtyard of the cloisters attached to the basilica.
The dome.
The next few are the jaw dropping presystery:
The exterior:
On the grounds is the older Mausileo di Galla Placida built to house the remains of the daughter of the late Roman emperor Theodosius I who died in the mid 4th c. As mausileums tend to be, it was dark in there so forgive the photo.
And we'll stroll from here...
This is the splendid covered market. Great place to explore and grab a cheap bite.
The Piazza del Popolo. the town's central square.
Thenearby Chiesa del Suffragio
And on to Dante's tomb:
Dante's remains were hidden by the locals here nearby during the second World War so they wouldn't wind up in Berlin I guess.
Loved the fencing nearby.
Just a sunny courtyard!
Next stop: San Apollinare Nuovo, another 6th c. basilica originally Arian. More mosaics.
Next, the Battisero Neoniano and the ciy's duomo.
This is the baptistry exterior.
The baptistry itself is 4th century and beautifully preserved inside.
The nearby little museum has the amazing ivory cathedra/throne of some bigshot bishop named Maximian:
...and another mosaic.
Then a quick walk through the city's duomo which nice but can't compare to the Byzantine stuff.
Last stop on our way out will be San Apollinare in Classe, another 6th c. Basilica. This is odd insofar as it's kind of out in the middle of nowhere. I'm told there was a town surrounding it but it no longer exists.
The apse is stunningly mosaiced. The colors are surely as vivid as when it was new.
So there, Ravenna. Mosaic lovers, you simply must go.