In Ravenna you cannot get bored, because there are so many wonders to see!
To help who wants to visit the city for the first time, here are 5 of the best things to do in Ravenna.

The 8 Unesco World Heritage monuments

Among the best things to do in Ravenna it’s impossible not to mention the 8 monuments declared Unesco World Heritage in 1996. Its unique early Christian-Byzantine buildings are a window into the glorious past of the city, which was capital three times between the 5th and 7th centuries: of the Western Roman Empire, of Theodoric’s Gothic Kingdom, and of the Byzantine Empire.

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Neonian and the Arian Baptistery, the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo and the one of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, St. Andrew Chapel, the Basilica of San Vitale , all decorated with wonderful mosaics unique in the world, and the Mausoleum of Theodoric, are all the unforgettable symbols of its history.

Dante Alighieri’s Tomb

Ravenna was the last refuge of the greatest poet of Italian literature: Dante Alighieri.
The poet died there on the night of 13-14 September 1321, after having completed the Paradiso, the last cantica of the Divine Comedy.
Initially buried in a tomb made available by the Da Polenta family, the poet’s bones – from the 16th century onwards – had a picaresque history.
They had in fact been hidden for a long time and were discovered by chance in 1865.

Today the Supreme Poet rest inside Dante’s Tomb. A sober, but very precious, neoclassical temple, built between 1780 and 1782 to a design by architect Camillo Morigia.

The archaeological park of Classe and Classis Ravenna Museum

The itinerary of the Archaeological Park of Classe, is made up of the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, of the Ancient Port, and of the Classis Ravenna Museum.

The Ancient Port is an archaeological site that allows visitors to discover the remains of the port of Civitas Classis, which dominated the Mediterranean routes. The Classis Museum exhibits more than 600 artefacts tracing the history of Ravenna from its Etruscan origins to the early Middle Ages.

The collection of Contemporary Mosaics at MAR – Ravenna Art Museum

Ravenna is known as the capital of mosaic, both ancient and contemporary. The most significant collection of contemporary mosaics can be admired at MAR – Ravenna Art Museum.

Works by the most important  international artists can be discovered. There are splendid mosaic translations from paintings made by the great masters of Ravenna: as Le coq bleu – realized by Antonio Rocchi on a preparatory drawing by Marc Chagall.

The crypt of the Basilica of San Francesco

In the heart of Ravenna stands the great Basilica of San Francesco, which gives its name to the square it overlooks.

Its crypt is fascinating and evocative: designed to house the remains of bishop Neone, it is decorated with a marvellous floor mosaic submerged due to subsidence.
Among a thousand reflections of light, beneath the surface of the water, many goldfish swim, giving the observer a surreal spectacle.