We would never have heard about the Santuario della Madonna delle Grazie al Sasso if we had not by chance stumbled upon a website about the churches of Pontassieve. Pontassieve itself is a municipality east of Florence with a population of about 20.000. The built-up area of this comune consists…
Even before we packed our bags and drove to Italy, we knew we wanted to visit it. Sure, we were going to visit beautiful and important cities like Florence, Siena, Arezzo and even wonderful Ravenna, but we also wanted to see something “local”, a building or a work of art…
Ravenna is by no means a large city, but it is home to an amazing eight UNESCO World Heritage sites. Most of these sites are within walking distance of each other. Combination tickets give access to the monuments at very reasonable prices, and admission to two of Ravenna’s most interesting…
The Sant’Apollinare Nuovo is an early sixth century church in the centre of Ravenna that is renowned for its beautiful wall mosaics. In fact, it is one of only two churches in Italy of which the original wall mosaics have been preserved over the centuries, the other being the Santa…
When the Ostrogothic king Theoderic died in Ravenna in 526, Italy had been part of his kingdom for over 30 years. Theoderic was anything but the stereotypical barbarian ruler. He was just, cultured, educated and mostly tolerant. Furthermore, he had excellent strategic insight and most of Italy prospered economically under…
Ravenna’s Orthodox Baptistery was built by bishop Ursus just to the north of Ravenna’s cathedral, the Duomo, which was also Ursus’ work. However, it was bishop Neon (ca. 450-473) who rebuilt and redecorated the Baptistery, and the structure is now often named the ‘Neonian Baptistery’ after him. The decorations inside…
The full name of Ravenna’s immense cathedral or Duomo is the cattedrale metropolitana della Risurrezione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo. It is dedicated to the resurrection (anastasis) of Jesus Christ. The cathedral was built in the eighteenth century on the footprint of the Late Antique cathedral dating back to the…
The so-called ‘Mausoleum of Galla Placidia’ used to be part of the Santa Croce church, a part of which can be seen on the left behind the mausoleum. The Santa Croce is now closed to the public. It was possibly built between 417 and 421, when Galla lived in Ravenna…
The San Giovanni Evangelista is perhaps the oldest church in Ravenna that is still standing. It is possible that the Santa Croce in the same city is marginally older, but we cannot know for certain. In any case, the Santa Croce is now closed to the public, so there is…