“…in the solitude
of the pine forest, and the silent shore
which bounds Ravenna’s immemorial wood,
rooted where once the Adrian wave flow’d o’er
to where the last Caesarean fortress stood,
evergreen forest…”Lord Byron
Ravenna Heritage of Humanity
HALF DAY TOUR
3 HOURS MAX – WITH A COMBINED TICKET THAT COSTS € 12,50* PER PERSON
(*This is an all-inclusive ticket for all the monuments of the itinerary)
This itinerary will take you to the discovery of the most famous and interesting monuments of the town: universally known for the splendour of its mosaics, our monuments make Ravenna a special place, unique in the world.
A fascinating journey through time where you can admire the best preserved Italian works of art dating back to the early Christian and Byzantine Era.
The BASILICA OF S. VITALE, the highest expression of early Christian art and architecture; the MAUSOLEUM OF GALLA PLACIDIA, a kind of “magic casket” which contains in its small perfect structure the V century mosaics, considered the most beautiful in the world; the CATHEDRAL BAPTISTERY, an octagonal prism built at the beginning of the V century when Ravenna became capital of the Western Roman Empire; the BASILICA OF SANT’APOLLINARE NUOVO, built by the King Theodoric for the Arian cult as a Palatine Chapel, which preserves the largest wall mosaics that have survived from ancient times.
You will stroll along the historical streets to get to the nice Venetian Piazza del Popolo, you will follow in the footsteps of Dante to discover areas where the poet lived after his exile from Florence.
San Vitale | © P. Forconi
FULL DAY TOUR
5 HOURS MAX
For an in-depth visit of Ravenna and a closer look at the glass manufacture and mosaic art, you can choose to stay a bit longer and complete the tour with the visit of the BASILICA* OF SANT’APOLLINARE IN CLASSE, known above all for the magnificent polychrome mosaics in the apse and the ancient marble sarcophagi placed along the naves.
*(The Basilica is a few kilometers from the city and can be reached by taxi or by bus).
Basilica of S. Apollinare in Classe: adults € 5,00; under 18 free access.
An English Lord in Ravenna
Byron’s Museum – Palazzo Guiccioli
The chapter of Byron’s stay in Ravenna has always been regarded as one of the most unique moments in the biography of the great English poet. His relationship with Teresa Gamba, the young wife of Alessandro Guiccioli, which began in Venice in 1819, has come to symbolize, in both collective imagination and world literature, the very essence of romantic love.
A passionate love story and a life experience are recounted through Byron’s works and Teresa’s preserved memories, now displayed in the rooms of Palazzo Guiccioli and narrated through multimedia installations. The museum is literary in nature, presenting the figure of the brilliant poet, a traveler across Europe and the East, the “fatal” hero, the “moody dandy,” and the fashionable man who shaped his life to fit a poetic ideal, becoming a prototype for the society of his time. From this stems the creation of the myth of the romantic hero—melancholic and solitary, rebellious against society and its conventions—who, in Ravenna, reached the peak of his poetic expression (writing Don Juan, Marino Faliero, Sardanapalus, The Two Foscari, and The Prophecy of Dante) and the full aestheticization of his life.
Despite living on the edge of snobbish extravagance, he experienced the passion of political struggle, nurturing ideals of moral and civil liberty that led him to sympathize with, fight for, and ultimately die for the independence of Italy and Greece. The museum exhibition evokes and commemorates the memorable presence of a poet-symbol of Romanticism, an icon of 19th-century European literature, whom Goethe described as “the greatest poetic genius of his century.”
Read more: “Bad, mad and dangerous to know“
