Historic Cities · Italy
Ravenna through the ages
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the fifth century A.D. until its collapse in 476, after which it served as the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom and then the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna.
Ravenna in AD 550
Byzantine Ravenna
Ravenna in 550 is the western capital of the Byzantine emperor, a low brick city set in marsh and reed-lined canals with a naval base at Classis. The walk shows newly consecrated churches and fresh mosaic glory, the working harbour beyond the marshes, palace precincts and the everyday streets that bind them.
A compact skyline of low brick roofs, squat apses and a small number of domes and octagonal towers rises from grey reed beds and a network of shallow canals. Exteriors are mostly baked brick with pale mortar, timber eaves and occasional white marble fragments; gold and cobalt glitter within the churches, while the approach to Classis shows rows of ships and sunlit amphorae on the quays beyond the marshland.
The route: 16 streets, squares and views
Causeway to Classis → Sant'Apollinare in Classe → Quays of Classis → Amphora Yard at Classis → Reed Canals Approach → Western City Walls → Palatium (Royal Palace) → Basilica of San Vitale → Mausoleum of Galla Placidia → Neonian Baptistery → …
Step inside, 9 interiors
Classe Apse Choir · Harbour Stowage Vault · Domed Funerary Chamber · Ceremonial Marble Stair · Imperial Mosaic Court · Starry Blue Vault · Baptistry Dome · Processional Nave · Tesserae Workshop
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Ravenna.
From the archive
Ravenna on paper: the old town as it was mapped.
A period plan or bird's-eye view of the old town, drawn between 1500 and 1850 — the streets this page's reconstructions walk. Public domain, with its source named.
Pianta della Città di Ravenna, engraved by Giulio Contarini (1781)
Shows Ravenna's walled enceinte with bastions and gates, the street network, public squares and numbered churches listed in the marginal legend.
1781 · Giulio Contarini · Wikimedia Commons
Public domain (plate dated 1781)
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