Walking Tours in Ravenna Splendours of the East

We will start our tour in front of the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, the palatine church of King Theoderic, built at the beginning of the sixth century for Aryan worship. Here we will look for some “surprises” hidden in the splendid wall mosaics along the aisles, in a blaze of glittering golden tiles.

On the way we will stop in front of the tomb of the Supreme Poet to pay a fitting tribute to him.

We will then move to the nearby Piazza del Popolo, the heart of the city, with the palaces of the governments that have followed over the centuries. We will stop in Piazza Andrea Costa to tell the story of the ancient Fish Point of Sale that took place here, thanks to a guild considered, DA many scholars, the oldest in Europe.

We will visit the splendid Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, a small jewel of the fifth century, with a simple exterior but with a mosaic interior decoration, really sumptuous.

We will then go to the adjacent Basilica of San Vitale, built during the sixth century, where we can compare the artistic evolution that has taken place over the course of a century. We will admire the presbytery area completely covered with mosaic surface, pausing on the two famous panels depicting the Eastern Emperor Justinian the Great and his wife, Empress Theodora. It will then be a pleasant walk through the streets of the city center, during which we will peek at the windows of the mosaic workshops that still make their works according to the ancient technique.