Ravenna is a city of art and culture, of mosaics, and ancient
city which 1,500 years ago was capital three times: of the
western Roman Empire, of Theodoric King of the Goths, and of the
Byzantine Empire in Europe.
The magnificence of that period left in Ravenna a great
heritage of Monuments, religious buildings decorated with
mosaics which have been declared "patrimony of humanity" by
UNESCO. The art of mosaics wasn't born in Ravenna but it did
find its greatest level of expression here where Christian
iconology was born, a mixture of symbolism and realism, with
Roman and Byzantine influence.
Here a Latin hexameter on the
walls of the Archbishop's chapel reads: Aut lux hic nata
est aut capta hic libera regnat… in other words "Or light
born here or imprisoned here, reigns free".
The beauty of
the mosaics and harmony of the architecture are not the only
features available to the tourist: in Ravenna you can stroll among bell-towers and
monastic cloisters, the frescoes in Giotto style of Santa Chiara to the baroque apse of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.
Ravenna
is roman and gothic, byzantine and medieval, it's Venetian and
finally modern and contemporary, civilized and hospitable,
full of events and shows of international prestige.
Ravenna