Capital three times of three important empires. The city of Ravenna still retains a charm that is the child of its history. Praised by poets and writers for its cultured and refined elegance, it was connecting bridge between the western and eastern world. A meeting place and fusion of cultures, numerous examples of Byzantine art can still be found here today. Famous above all for its mosaics, Ravenna enlightened the mind of the Supreme Poet.
Ravenna in history
Small lagoons interspersed with marshy ground. This is the territory that lays the foundations for the glorious history of Ravenna. It is in fact its naturalistic conformation to choose which city center of the Western Roman Empire. We are in the XNUMXth century AD. when there is a need to protect themselves from the threats of the Visigoths. Like this the title of capital leaves Milan in favor of the "swampy" but safer Ravenna. The fall of 476 leads the territories to uncertainty. Barbarism, raids, destruction and new conquests. In the XNUMXth century Ravenna became the beating heart of a new Kingdom, that of the Ostrogoths led by Theodoric. But Justinian, Roman emperor of the East does not fit. Eager to re-establish control over the "Italian" territories, he goes on the attack. And so, for the third time, Ravenna is raised to capital. On this occasion of the Byzantine Empire.
Cradle of the mosaic
Among the city monuments, the early Christians undoubtedly stand out. Buildings that arose during a period of different religious inclinations. An example is the Orthodox Baptistery. Built at the end of the XNUMXth century, it has an octagonal shape and houses beautiful mosaics in the dome. In the phase of Ostrogothic domination, on the other hand, it sees birth the Arian Baptistery. Made on the model of the previous one, it distinguishes from this one above all for the features of a more markedly medieval art. Golden colors and precious pigments reinforce the supernatural, celestial and sacred aspect of the divine dimension.
But let's continue the tour of the mosaics. Moving from baptisteries to funeral monuments. AND the case of the mausoleum of Galla Placidia. A woman of considerable importance is the regent mother of the future emperor Valentinian III. And it is in the current historical city center that the mausoleum in question is located. The funeral monument wants to express the triumph of life over death and to do so he uses golden icons that seem to be wrapped in a mystical aura. On the line of the memorial buildings there is also the mausoleum of Theodoric. How can we forget then he asked her to Sant'Apollinare and San Vitale? Masterpieces of mosaic where dazzling chromatic tones surrounded by golden fields generate a spirituality so pure as to seem unattainable to the common mortal.
Dante's tomb
The Supreme Poet father of the Italian language finds rest right here. It is in the city center that the mausoleum of Dante Alighieri stands next to the basilica of San Francesco. A native of Florence, he spent the last years of his life in Ravenna where he died in 1321. The square-shaped tomb is located inside an eighteenth-century small temple in full neoclassical style. The importance of the Poet led to the establishment of the so-called "Dante area". An area where you are asked to keep silence as a sign of respect. But why did Dante go to Ravenna?
The answer lies in the feeling you get when you visit a city as peculiar as this one. Wrapped in the golden mantle of its mosaics, Ravenna welcomes the visitor in an almost idyllic atmosphere of serenity. The pure spirituality spread by small-tile art was perceived by him Dante Alighieri. And it is in this frame that the Poet finds the right inspiration for the conclusion of his Divine Work. Heaven Dante.
