Ravenna was briefly the capital of the Western Roman Empire and later a Byzantine stronghold in Italy, and both eras left behind mosaic work so well preserved it still glows the way it did fifteen centuries ago. Unlike Venice’s later mosaics, Ravenna’s were laid directly under Byzantine patronage, giving them a purity of style — deep blues, gold grounds, stiffly elegant figures — that art historians treat as a benchmark. Eight of the city’s monuments hold UNESCO World Heritage status collectively, and Dante Alighieri, who died in Ravenna in exile from Florence, is buried here in a small tomb that draws its own steady stream of literary pilgrims.
Top-Rated Ravenna Mosaics Tours & Tickets
What to See and Do
Visit the Basilica di San Vitale
The octagonal church of San Vitale houses Ravenna’s most famous mosaics, including facing portraits of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora with their courts, rendered in astonishing detail down to jeweled crowns and patterned robes. The building’s Byzantine architecture is itself a rarity in Italy.
See the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
A small, unassuming brick exterior gives no hint of the deep midnight-blue ceiling inside, scattered with gold stars around a mosaic cross. It’s one of the oldest mosaic cycles in the city and among the most atmospheric spaces in Ravenna, best appreciated by simply standing still and looking up.
Walk Through Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
Long processions of martyrs and virgins march along the nave walls of this basilica, one of the longest continuous mosaic sequences to survive from antiquity. The building changed hands between Arian and Orthodox Christians, and traces of that history are visible in altered details within the mosaics themselves.
Explore the Neonian Baptistery
Tucked beside Ravenna’s cathedral, this baptistery’s dome mosaic depicts the baptism of Christ surrounded by apostles, one of the earliest and best-preserved baptismal scenes anywhere. It’s smaller and quieter than San Vitale, making it easy to spend real time studying the details.
Visit Sant’Apollinare in Classe
A short trip outside the city center, this basilica has a more spacious, rural setting and a striking green pastoral mosaic in its apse depicting Saint Apollinaris among sheep. The site sits near what was once Ravenna’s Roman port.
Best Time to Visit
Spring and early autumn bring comfortable temperatures for walking between sites, and mornings tend to be quieter than midday. Ravenna doesn’t draw the crowds of Venice or Florence, so even summer visits stay manageable.
How to Get There
Ravenna sits on Italy’s Adriatic side, reachable by train from Bologna in about an hour, making it an easy day trip or overnight from the region. The historic center is compact enough to cover entirely on foot.
Good to Know
A combined ticket covering several of the main mosaic sites is generally the most efficient way to visit, since the monuments are scattered across the center and just outside it. Budget a full day to see the major five sites without rushing, and bring a small pair of binoculars or a zoom lens if you want to catch the highest details in the domes. Leaving time for Dante’s tomb and the quiet streets around it rounds out a visit that otherwise focuses entirely on looking upward.
Few places let you stand this close to Byzantine art in its original setting. Ravenna’s mosaics reward patience and close looking rather than a rushed checklist visit, and the city’s relative lack of crowds makes that kind of slow, attentive visit genuinely easy to have.
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