The hook
An unassuming town in the flatlands that was once the capital of the western Roman Empire, holding some of the best-preserved Byzantine mosaics anywhere, ceilings of gold and deep blue from the sixth century.
01Why it's worth it
For a while around AD 500 Ravenna was one of the most important cities in the world, capital first of the late western empire and then of Byzantine Italy, and it spent that wealth on mosaic. The results survive almost intact: the church of San Vitale, its apse blazing with green fields and robed emperors; the small Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, whose domed ceiling is a night sky of gold stars on deep blue that stops people in the doorway; and several more churches and baptisteries within a short walk. Photographs cannot carry the effect, because the glass tesserae are set at angles to catch and scatter candlelight, so the surfaces shift as you move. The town today is quiet and low-key, which makes the interiors more startling. Dante spent his exile here and is buried in the centre.
02How to experience it
Buy the combined ticket and take the churches in a loop on foot; they are close together and small, so it is an easy, unrushed day. Go into Galla Placidia last and let your eyes adjust to the dark before looking up. The mosaics reward slow looking more than any caption can.