30 hours in… Ravenna

Less than two hours from Bologna by car or train, on the eastern edge of present-day Emilia-Romagna, six miles from the Adriatic coast, Ravenna is outwardly prosperous, elegant and relaxed. Visitors find a charming, pedestrian-zoned historic center, cobblestone streets leading to arcade-lined piazzas, wine bars brimming with locals.

The city was exploding with art and architecture as the capital of the Western Roman Empire, protected by marshland and neighboring the powerful port of Classe. But waves of conquerors soon arrived, first Goth, then Byzantine, each leaving their mark on religious adornment. After the town fell to the Lombards in the eighth century, Ravenna drifted into economic obscurity. Now it has eight Unesco World Heritage Sites studded with glorious mosaics, and a twice-yearly festival of music, theatre and dance.

Ravenna all combines to create an intimate atmosphere making Ravenna an ideal overnight escape from busier Bologna.

DAY 1

Morning
Ravenna is accessible by foot and easily navigated without a guide. Taking a tour of the town’s oldest sites is like witnessing the turmoil of early Christianity, with its clash of Roman, Byzantine and Arian motifs.

Galla Placidia’s Mausoleum is a Roman queen’s unused mausoleum, which boasts the town’s oldest mosaics, dating to 425. Daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I and a political force in her own right, she commissioned this brick-built box for her eternal rest, but died in Rome in AD450. The exterior gives nothing away, but step into the darkness and wait. As your eyes adjust, you’ll see some of the finest mosaic art in the western world: skies of blue and gold, deer, doves and, unusually, a beardless Christ.

Break for coffee, before heading into the Basilica of San Vitale, begun in AD526 by Bishop Ecclesius, while the city was in Ostrogoth hands, but completed under the more flamboyant Byzantines. The Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna’s most visited site, offers a religious and cultural mash-up with an octagonal Roman floor plan, Byzantine architectural flourishes, glittering mosaics and remaining walls bedecked in Baroque frescoes.

Lunch
Don’t miss Romagnola cuisine — distinct from that of neighboring Emilia — which is famous for chewy twists of fresh, eggless strozzapreti pasta or piadina, a round, flat bread beloved in the region. Locals say piadina, a traditional flatbread, is like espresso: it should be made and consumed immediately. Find a small takeout shop that makes it on the spot, folding it in half to create warm sandwiches like prosciutto and arugula, or fig jam with squacquerone cheese. Finish with chocolate tart.

Afternoon
Now get on your bike along with the rest of Ravenna. The city centre is traffic-free and the cycle pace sedate. Book your bike in advance with Darsena Pop Up, then ride through the centro storico to dinner. Go on and join the passeggiata to Piazza del Popolo, Ravenna’s grandest Venetian square. Near the Piazza del Popolo, you will find Dante’s Tomb in a small neo-Classical building which houses his remains. Inside the tomb, a small oil lamp burns continuously. He was in exile in the city in the 14th century, finishing his masterpiece, “The Divine Comedy,” – the greatest poem in the Italian language – and here he died from malaria in 1321.
Now, you have a choice: MAR, a modern-art museum in the elegant Loggetta Lombardesca, where there’s a funny sick-note collage by Maurizio Cattelan, the ever-caustic artist behind that 18-carat gold loo at Blenheim Palace; or the mosaics of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, built in AD504 by the Ostrogoth king Theodoric the Great. Pause in the cloister on the way out.

Evening
Stop in a wine bar where the barman pours you a generous glass of local Sangiovese wine and taste local aperitif snacks: crostini spread with chicken liver pâté, squares of frittata, nuggets of fried pork skin.
Ravenna used to be a seaport. Now a man-made canal now links the city to the sea. Reserve a table for a late dinner down in the Darsena. The old port district is seriously trendy: try restaurants set in a series of stacked shipping containers by the water’s edge, End the night a few doors down, where the mixologist makes a mean espresso martini.

DAY 2
Morning
Start the day off with a wake-up shot of espresso with pistachio and cream. Then, head to the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe. Seven Unesco World Heritage sites in Ravenna form an easily accessible circuit through the historic centre. The Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe is three kilometres away by bus or taxi. We recommend cycling along the flat cycle path. Classe was a port town once — until the sea receded. Here, in a disused sugar factory, is the monumental Museo della Citta e del Territorio. You’ll get the story of Ravenna from prehistory onwards. 

Lunch
Osterias offers rustic regional dishes (house-made spinach tortelloni tossed in sage butter sauce, slow-simmered meatballs and peas in tomato sauce. Or try  cappelletti al ragu — filled pasta in a rich meat sauce and the courgette and onion frittata.

Sitting at a communal table, surrounded by local chatter, the rhythm of this unassuming town revealed itself. Ravenna is a gentle place where neighbors gather in the shadow of ancient monuments to share wine, cured ham and unleavened griddle bread, as they have for hundreds of years.