Ravenna

In 408 AD, Emperor Honorius transferred the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Rome to Ravenna. After the fall of the Empire, Ravenna was conquered by Odoacer. Odoacer was defeated by the Ostrogoth King Theodoric the Great in 493.

In 535, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I invaded Italy, and conquered Ravenna in 540. In 554, the city became the seat of the Byzantine government in Italy, and was known as the Exarchate of Ravenna.

The Lombards, under King Liutprand, occupied Ravenna in 712, but were forced to return it later to the Byzantines. In 751, the Lombards conquered Ravenna again, thus ending the Byzantine rule. King Pepin of the Franks attacked the Lombards under orders of Pope Stephen II. Ravenna then gradually came under the direct authority of the Popes.

Apart from two occupations by Venice, Ravenna was part of the Papal States until 1796, when it was annexed to the French puppet state of the Cisalpine Republic. The city was returned to the Papal States in 1814. Occupied by Piedmontese troops in 1859, Ravenna and the surrounding area became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Ravenna is located 55 kilometers northwest of Rimini, 70 kilometers southeast of Ferrara, 75 kilometers east of Bologna, 110 kilometers southeast of Modena, 130 kilometers northeast of Florence, 140 kilometers south of Venice, 145 kilometers southeast of Reggio Emilia, 295 kilometers southeast of Milan, 360 kilometers north of Rome, 410 kilometers southeast of Turin, and about 520 kilometers northwest of Naples.

From the Rimini Airport, you can take the local bus Line 9 to the Rimini railway station. The trip takes about 25 minutes, and a ticket costs 1.50€ at the vending machine, or 2.00€ if bought on board. Then, you can take a train to Ravenna. The trip takes about one hour, and the cheapest ticket costs 5.20€.

Another nearby airport is the Guglielmo Marconi International Airport, located about 75 kilometers to the west, on the outskirts of Bologna.

To get from the Bologna Airport to Ravenna, you can take the special train Marconi Express to the Bologna Centrale railway station. Then, you can take a train to Ravenna. The trip takes about one hour and a quarter, and the cheapest ticket costs 8.00€.

The monuments, built during the 5th and the 6th centuries, are the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (Mausoleo di Galla Placidia), the Neonian Baptistery (Battistero Neoniano), the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, the Arian Baptistery (Battistero degli Ariani), the Archiepiscopal Chapel of Saint Andrew (Cappella Arcivescovile di Sant'Andrea), the Mausoleum of Theodoric (Mausoleo di Teodorico), the Church of San Vitale, and the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe.

Other important tourist attractions in Ravenna are the Cathedral of Ravenna, dedicated to the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Basilica of Santa Maria in Porto, the Basilica of San Francesco, and the Dante’s Tomb (Tomba di Dante).