San Vitale church, Ravenna

Favorite thing: visit basilica di San Vitale - inside wonderful breath taking mosaics, dating 6th century. Loved also Gala Placida, small, full of mosaics and sarcofags, but wonderful. Nice Italian style old town with central square, other nice places. Tomba di Dante – Dante’s grave. Mausoleo di Teodorico , guess the name says it all, I liked it. Also you can go to the ruins , or wall that is left from his palace, climb there into the tower, and I guess it’s the only place where you can really take a very close look at the mosaics, and it’s for free. Basilica dello spirito Santo, Battisimo Neoniano, ecc.

Fondest memory: Basilica di San Francesco – mosaics, but the interesting thing that you can take a look there at the real mosaics, original ground, under the water, as Ravenna was flooded and the ground level of all the buildings like that is under the water.
The picture - inside Basilica di San Vitale.
At first mosaics seem like East-Byzantine carpet on the ceiling. Then you look more carefully and see wonderful little stones of different size, shape color , finally they blend into fantastic images each telling different stories.
Some trees without leave, palms and magnolias stand like it was summer - that's another story :).

Favorite thing: If you go in the city centre you can visit the Basilica of S.Vitale, the golden glory perioud for bizantine arts in the West.
It was built in 525 from Giuliano Argentario. It has an original octagonal shape and inside you can see some precious mosaics: one with Imperators Giustiniano...

Favorite thing:



Basilica of San Vitale



Basilica of San Vitale
Octagonal plan church, founded by Giulianus Argentarius, commissioned by Bishop Ecclesius and consecrated by the Archbishop Maximian in 548. The Basilica of San Vitale is among the most important monuments of early Christian art in Italy, above all for the splendour of its mosaics. The eastern influence, always presents in the architecture of Ravenna, has a dominant role here. No longer a basilica with nave and two aisles but a central octagonal plan, surmounted by a cupola and the whole supported on 8 pilasters and arches. The dome ceiling and the niches were decorated by frescoes painted in 1780 by Caféozzi and Gandolfi of Bologna and Guarana of the Veneto. It should be Notesd that the floor is kept dry by pumps since it is below the level of the water table.