Ravenna

COMING SOON

Ravenna was where we started having problems. To be honest, at this point most of these problems were my fault. The early morning trains (6 or sooner) are the cheapest ones and so I had us getting them every time we changed cities. You do that and you need a rest afterwards or you're good for nothing at all. Even with a full night's sleep it's hard to pull off. Even if we had to pay more it might have been worth getting later trains. Given the state of the train services it might have been better if we'd spent more time in fewer spots. Believe me, you'll be hearing more about the train system later. MUCH more. Anyway, we got to the train station in Pisa by about five. It was just down the street from our hotel. The ticket booths weren't open so we had to use the automated ones which was where we hit our first problem. There is an app for the iPhone that is essential for anyone brave or foolish enough to risk the Italian rail services. It's called iTreni and is the only time that prices, stops and times show up in the same place. It told us to get the 5:39 to Florence and then transfer to a train going to Ravenna. The ticket booth did not list this as an option. So the first ticket we brought had us making three stops at three different stations before we reached Ravenna. I should of held firm on Florence because we couldn't find a train going to the first station listed so we bought new tickets to Florence and hoped that the app was right about the transfer. Once on the train we relaxed until a ticket collector came by and told us that we needed to stamp our tickets before we left the station. The charge for not doing so was €40. Each. Anyone who's ever taken a train in Italy and knows what to expect may want to skip the next paragraph because it is essentially a giant rant about the Italian rail system.

Italy has the worst public transport 'system' that I have ever seen. It is a mass of incomprehensible gibberish so bad that even the Italians can't understand it. The stamped tickets was only the first of many problems we had with Italian trains. Charging €40 for a mistake that everyone is bound to make at least once is obscene. Worst of all is that there is no warning about it in advance. Admittedly, I don't speak Italian but there were no big signs over the machine or stamper or even on the ticket. Nothing to make it obvious that there was something that needed to be done before the ticket could be used. The yellow boxes where you stamp them are small and actually hidden away. I had wondered if we needed to validate tickets but there was nowhere obvious to do so so I assumed that the tickets themselves were enough. But no, the yellow boxes are hidden away out of plain sight where no one will find them unless they know what they're looking for. The French have a similar system but unlike the Italians you cannot get through to your train unless you've stamped your ticket. Their machines are impossible to miss. There is also a very small number of machines at each station which means that when one is broken (and they often are) you have to go to the opposite side of the station to validate them. Evil. It doesn't get better from there. The costs for different locations depends entirely on the company that runs the train. There is no centralized system. This would not normally be a problem except that when you buy the ticket there is no company listed on it. You can use it on any train going that way. Unless you know which train is cheapest, something impossible to find without iTreni or a very good grasp of Italian, you will be charged the additional amount when they check your ticket. The costs also vary depending on the time. Again, there's no way to know how much unless you're psychic or have access to an internet connection. The train companies are not always listed, the platforms vary, and the stations are mazes. To buy a ticket you wait in one of two lines, the purpose of which is not clear to me. They seem to be divided up by the company running them but it is rarely clear from that exactly which one you want. Even finding the ticket booths can sometimes be a problem. There is no one there who can help you. The Italians get by this by sleeping at the train station until their trains arrive! We saw a large number of people waiting on top of blankets and cushions. All told the Italian system reamed us for about €150 each in fines and missed tickets alone, and we did everything right and arrived to every train station at least an hour early. Avoid using public transport in Italy if at all possible!

Our first stop when we got to Ravenna was the pharmacy to buy some suncream. We would have brought some with us but the rules about bringing liquids on the plane were too stringent. Surprise surprise, Italy is hot. The heat was made the more unbearable because we were coming from the UK where the temperature was a comfortable 18° C (65° F) while the temperature in Italy was 28° C (82° F). Even though I'm used to such temperatures the change doesn't usually come overnight and my two companions were heat even harder because only one of them had been in such heat before. Then came my second mistake of the day. The hotel I booked turned out to be two miles out of town. While that distance doesn't seem like much on a map it was quite a struggle to walk it carrying our backpacks while operating on almost no sleep and no food. From then on we took taxis everywhere we went in Ravenna. Once at the hotel (which was pretty nice) we all needed a rest from our difficult morning. This meant we didn't even  get into town until around 1.

Basilica of San Vitale

The first (and most impressive) place we visited was the Basilica of San Vitale. This church is an amazing example of Byzantine architecture from the 6th Century.

Back in the 500s things were looking bad for the Romans. The Western Empire had fallen leaving only the Eastern part (often called the Byzantine Empire) intact. In 533 the Emperor Justinian (See first picture and below) started his reconquest of the West. Starting in North Africa his general Belisarius began to recover Rome's lost provinces. North Africa was followed by Italy and later parts of Spain. North Africa and Italy fell quickly due to Belisarius' sublime skills, the still efficient Roman army, internal divisions amongst the enemies, and the internal stability of the Eastern Empire. The Goths who had ruled Italy for over 50 years were replaced by less popular Roman governors who quickly wore out their initially welcomed arrival by bleeding the country dry through taxes.One of the welcome benefits of this was the dearth of beautiful buildings constructed in Ravenna.

Why Ravenna you might ask? Despite it's provincial status today and at almost every other point in history Ravenna used to be the capital of the Western Roman Empire. Under the later Emperors and the Gothic kings Ravenna was built up to unprecedented heights and many impressive new buildings were constructed. Mostly the only buildings that remain from this surge of construction are the churches as well as a section of surviving wall. Ravenna was at the center of the Byzantine presence in Italy and contains art and mosaics from the two hundred year stretch of history following the fall of Rome. Apart from that Ravenna's only claim to fame is for being the home of Dante. Dante lived in Ravenna for years since he had been exiled from his native Florence. There is a mausoleum dedicated to him in Ravenna as well as, amusingly, a statue of him erected in Florence.

Every church (and many other buildings) in Ravenna had these towers. I'm not sure why but I suspect that it is a Byzantine introduction. While we saw several more of them throughout Italy we never saw so many in one place as we did in Ravenna.  To get into the church you first have to pass through the museum. There really isn't much there apart from a few statues and tombstones. This is where the nice courtyards are located though.

The inside of the church is extraordinary though. I hadn't realized that it would be so big. From the outside it looked much smaller. The emphasis on internal rather than external beauty is something that is common in Byzantine churches of this period which I could also have seen in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, at least if I had gotten to Istanbul. The most impressive feature of this church are the mosaics. These are all original from the 6th Century, something which cannot be said about the painting on the ceiling.

The most impressive mosaics are located in the Presbytery. This is the section at the front where only the priests were allowed to go. This section is filled with color as the mosaics are very bright and exciting.

The most famous mosaic in the church (and possibly ever) is also located in the Presbytery. On the left side of the windows is located this mosaic which features the Emperor Justinian and his court. Anyone who's ever read anything on Justinian will have seen this mosaic. It is the best and most famous representation of him and the only one I know of except for another mosaic (also located in Ravenna) and coins. Justinian is located in the center as the only person not partially covered by another. To the right are located the civil side of his court and to the left are the military side epitomized by a group of generic soldiers. There have been many suggestions as to the identities of the people surrounding Justinian, to the extent where it has even been argued whether they represent anyone at all as opposed to generic archetypes. The one exception to this is the bishop Maximian who is identified by name. I tend to think they did represent real people although who they were supposed to be is an open question. The bearded man just to the left of Justinian is usually thought to be his general Belisarius, a reasonable suggestion as he was present in Italy in 548 when the mosaic was commissioned. The man over his other shoulder has sometimes been referred to as being Narses, Belisarius' successor and competitor. I find that identification to be rather more tenuous although he too was present in Italy in 548 (that was the year he took command).

On the other side facing the Justinian panel is another mosaic featuring Justinian's wife and partner in Empire Theodora. She was an interesting character by all accounts. The daughter of a chariot racer she was an actress and possibly even a prostitute before she married Justinian who was so enamored of her that he basically made her a co-ruler. They had a very successful partnership that lasted until her death in the same year this mosaic was constructed. If the artist intended to suck up to her by making her out to be on the same level as her husband he picked his timing very poorly. Her attendants meet with less speculation than Justinian's, although one of them may indeed have been Belisarius' wife Antonia who seems to have been a personal friend of the Empress and the cause of many of her husband's later problems. The Imperial pair were the greatest Emperors of the Byzantine Empire and offered a rags-to-riches story rare in history. Their success would not long outlast them however, and just over 50 years after Justinian's death the Arabs took over most of the Eastern Empire including Egypt and North Africa. Italy began falling to the Lombards even earlier.

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is located right behind the Basilica of San Vitale. It's a small little building which seems very much in style with the church. This building actually dates from much earlier than the Basilica in the early 5th Century when the Western Empire was still ruling from Ravenna. The association with Galla Placidia is purely speculative, although she could certainly have afforded something like this for herself and her family. Galla was one of the most powerful women in the Later Empire and the mother of the Emperor Valentinian III.

St. Lawrence

Neonian Baptistry

Museum (former bishops' palace)

Archbishop's Chapel

Easter Calendar for the years 532-626. Calendario pasquale

Church of Santa Maria Maggiore

Arian Baptistry

Built by Theodoric

Basilica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo

This building is not to be confused with the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe which is located just out of town. This is the last of the four churches included on our ticket.

Near the entrance to the building is located the other mosaic of the Emperor Justinian. This time he is depicted as an old man suggesting it was commissioned later. It is on what looks to be a wooden frame and is not built into the wall like all of the other mosaics. This time he is alone without any of his advisers, a fitting fact given his ability to drive such men away as time went on.

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44°25'13.65"N, 12°11'46.60"E