 |
| Mural depicting a typical day in Ravenna. Below it is a sculpture of two of Ravenna’s important historical leaders |
From Trieste we cruised at a very slow speed in a southwesterly direction, across the Adriatic Sea to the town of Ravenna, Italy. It was only 110 miles from Trieste to Ravenna. We didn’t leave until 8:00 PM and we were docked in Ravenna the next morning shortly after sunrise.
 |
| Quite possibly the orangest sunset we’ve ever seen! |
Ravenna is located just over 120 miles from Venice. It is another Italian port city that has benefited from Venice’s cruise ship ban. We don’t know how many people went to Venice from Ravenna, but there were ship excursions, as well as opportunities to get there independently. We’ve been to Venice a few times. It’s fascinating to see, but we didn’t feel compelled to revisit it. What we discovered was that Ravenna was an amazing city, that kept us busy the entire day.
Ravenna’s port is located about a 20 minute bus ride from the city center. There is a large beach and a small village by the port. The beach wasn’t exactly the white sandy beach of Anna Maria Island, Florida, but it was wide and long. Although it wasn’t crowded on a mid-week day when the water was still chilly, it looked like it will be booming in another month.
 |
| The beach was just off the ship. It was very long and wide. |
Our first stop once we were off the bus was a local coffee house, where two cappuccino’s and a large croissant filled with nutella set us back a whole five dollars…….at that price we already liked Ravenna!
In the 5th century Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire. Over the next few centuries it went through turbulent times, with control of the city changing hands numerous times. Today Ravenna is a bustling town with a population of 150,000. There is a large university there. Rick Steves describes Ravenna as “once powerful, still glorious”.
Much of Ravenna’s connection to its past lies in the unbelievable mosaics that can be found at several different sites around the town. The sites we visited included two basilica’s, a mausoleum, a baptistery and a museum.
There were multiple ticket options, but even the most expensive one that included all five sites was less than $14 each. We weren’t sure if we would visit them all, but we splurged and went all in with the full ticket. It was well worth it!
 |
| Admission was inexpensive…..and the bench was free! |
The five sites are around the city center and were all within easy walking distance of each other (no more than 10 minutes apart). The ticket allows one admission to each site. Due to its small size there is a time reserved to visit the mausoleum and the visit is limited to five minutes. You can stay in the other four as long as you’d like and you’ll probably stay longer than you imagined. In addition to the five mosaic sites, Ravenna has plenty to offer, just roaming around the city center.
 |
| A couple of photos from the outside of Basilica do San Vitale |
 |
| Inside the Basilica do’ San Vitale |
 |
| The mausoleum of Galla Placidia. She commissioned the mausoleum for her burial but she died elsewhere and the whereabouts of her remains are unknown. |
 |
| A couple of photos from inside the mausoleum |
 |
| The museum contains mosaics and some very interesting artifacts from the 5th century. |
 |
| Inside the baptistery |
 |
| The baptistery itself was originally a Roman bath. It was converted to a baptistery in the 5th century. |
 |
| A couple of photos from the Basilica d S’Apollinaire |
Ravenna was the last of our stops in Italy for this adventure. We didn’t hit all of the more than 63,000 pizzerias in the country, but we did sample (more like devour) pizza in four different cities…..the results are in and the decision of the judges was unanimous:
First Place: Passions Eterna- Messina, Sicily
Second Place: Mr. Dante- Ravenna
Third Place: Trivio- Rome
Fourth Place: L’Antica-Naples
 |
| The Winner! |
Yes, the world’s oldest pizzeria finished last in our opinion. However, it was still good and if you’re in Naples it’s definitely worth a visit. After all, it’s a slice of history….literally!
