Ravenna (November 19)

We stayed overnight in Ravenna at a very nice hotel with an equally nice dinner the night before and breakfast the next morning; always a nice way to start the day knowing you’ll be on your feet all day!

Interesting factoid of Ravenna: it was the last capitol of the Roman Empire before its fall in 476 AD, thus ending the "Classic Age" and marking the beginning of the "Middle (or Dark) Age."  According to the story told by SYA's Ancient History teacher, Santo Sammartino, the "end" occurred as a result of the bloody confrontation of among Zeno, the emperor of the East (Constantinople), Odoacer, the leader of the Barbarians, and Romulus Augustus, the emperor of the Roman Empire in Ravenna.

In the morning we took the kids to a local high school (left) where they could meet and befriend kids their age in another town.  The Italian students, in turn, became the tour guides of the day!  As you can imagine, it was a total success!  Our kids were fully engaged and the Italian students had a lot of fun in this role.

Our students were broken up into groups of 6-8 students, 1 SYA teacher, and about 3-4 Italian student per group. Here's my group (see right).  Laura, our main tour guide, is in the one in the red jacket.  Her assistants are off to the right (can't remember their names). Once we established the groups, we were led to the Dante Museum, one of the main attractions in Ravenna.  While Dante wasn’t from Ravenna, he spent some time here writing and his remains are located here as well.  The picture at the right shows the courtyard of the building that houses the Dante museum, located on the windows on the second floor.  

The museum was fascinating.  I didn’t really know much about Dante besides the Inferno section of his most famous work, The Devine Comedy.  Anyway, the Italian students really did their homework before luring us around the museum.  They were fantastic with their knowledge of Dante and the museum but they were naturally able to engage our students better than any adult tour guide would/could have.  Total success!

Afterwards, students had time to explore anything they wanted in the city with their Italian guides.  One of the places our group visited was the Basilica of Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo (right).  It was erected during the sixth century by the Arians and originally dedicated in 504 AD.  It was then re-consecrated in 561 AD under the rule of Byzantine emperor Justinian I, under the new name “Santus Martinus in Coelo Aureo” (Saint Martin in Golden Heaven).  Suppressing the Arian influence on the church, it was dedicated to St. Martin of Tours, a foe of Arianism.  According to legend, Pope Gregory the Great ordered that the breath-taking mosaics in the church be blackened, as they distracted worshipers from their prayers. 

The basilica was renamed again in 856 AD when relics of St. Apollinaris were transferred from the Basilica of the original Sant’ Apollinare because of the threat posed by frequent raids of pirates from the Adriatic Sea.  On the very upper band of the left lateral wall are 13 small mosaics, depicting Jesus’ miracles and parables. On the right are 13 mosaics depicting the Passion and Resurrection.

In the afternoon, we took our kids to the Basilica of San Vitale (left).
Like the New Basilica of St. Apollinaris, San Vitale was filled with mostly amazing masaics (see right below) mixed in with equally stunning frescos (see right above).

The construction of the Basilica of San Vitale began in 526 AD and consecrated in 547 AD, under the direction of Bishop Maximian prior to Byzantine rule in Ravenna.  The church is most famous for its wealth of Byzantine mosaics, the largest and best preserved outside of Constantinople.  The church is of extreme importance in Byzantine art, as it is the only major church from the period of the Emperor Justinian I to survive virtually intact to the present day.  

According to legend, the church was erected on the site of the martyrdom of St. Vitalis.  However, there is some confusion as to which St. Vitalis the martyrdom is referring to (St. Vitalis of Milan or St. Vitalis of Bologna).

On the grounds of San Vitale stands the Mausoleum of Galla Pacidia, built in 417 AD and formerly the oratory of the Church of the Holy Cross.  Presently it is simply the resting place of three sarcophagi, the largest of which belongs to the remains of Galla Pacidia, daughter of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I.  Galla Pacidia was a well-know patron of the arts, so it comes as no surprise that the interior of the mausoleum is ornately decorated, top to bottom, with the most elegant (and well-preserved) mosaics I think I've ever seen!

As you enter the mausoleum from the north you are immediate blown away by the semi-cylindrical mosiac design in gold and blue glass, known as tesare.  Facing the north entrance you can see above the doorway a depiction of Jesus with his flock of sheep, known as the "Good Shepard" mosaic.

It was a good day, indeed!  We certainly packed in a lot of sites for just one day!  At the end of each day, once we returned to our hotel and had a moment or two to freshen up, we were privy to wonderful food and drink prepared by the hotel staff.