Wednesday 3 October. First stop this morning was the tomb of Dante Aligheri, “the divine poet” and author of The Divine Comedy. Dante died in exile in Ravenna in 1321 and is entombed next to the fifth-century church of San Francesco where his funeral was held. There is a mound covered in ivy next to the tomb in which Dante’s urn was temporarily buried during WWII to avoid the possibility of damage from bombings. A small lamp suspended in the tomb is never extinguished. Then, after a look through S. Francesco, on bus number 4 to the township of Classe for a visit to the monumental Basilica di Sant’ Apollinare in Classe. It was consecrated on 549, not long after the Byzantine forces had expelled the Goths. The nave is flanked by 24 marble pillars each side, however the apse is the reason for our visit; the walls and ceiling are covered by exceptional mosaics, rich in gold and turquoise, set against a backdrop of birds nesting in shrubbery. St Apollinare stands in the centre, with a row of lambs either side, symbolising the apostles. Above the columns either side of the nave are paintings of Ravenna’s bishops, added over a 6oo year period up to the eighteenth century, and around the walls are sarcophagi containing the remains of some of the bishops. The strategic significance of the ancient port of Classe was that it was a home port for the Roman fleet.
Then back to Ravenna and bus number 70 to the coastal port of Marina di Ravenna; not much there, although a gelato salved our disappointment and we took the opportunity to dip our toes in the Adriatic Sea and crane our necks to see if we could catch a glimpse of Croatia on the other side. Then back to Ravenna for a look at its own leaning tower, the Torre del Pubblico. You can’t enter it but its lean is greater than Pisa’s.
Tomorrow: the short train ride to Bologna, then a further one hour west to Parma for some ham and cheese before returning and settling into our Bologna apartment.
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