Explore Ravenna

The Tomb of Dante is a small neoclassical temple built in 1780–1782 to a design by Camillo Morigia, beside the Basilica of San Francesco. Inside, the urn holding the poet's remains carries a Latin epitaph, above it a 1483 marble relief of Dante by Pietro Lombardo, and a lamp burning oil from the Tuscan hills hangs from the ceiling.

Sant'Apollinare Nuovo is a basilica built by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great in the early 6th century as his Arian palace church. Its nave walls carry two long mosaic processions of martyrs and virgins above views of Ravenna and the port of Classe; the portico dates from the 16th century and the round bell tower from the 10th.

The Arian Baptistery is a small octagonal brick building raised around 500 by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great beside the Arian cathedral, for baptisms in his Arian church. It now stands about two metres below street level; its dome mosaic shows the baptism of Christ in the Jordan, circled by the twelve apostles.

The Baptistery of Neon is an octagonal brick baptistery beside Ravenna Cathedral, begun around 400 under Bishop Ursus and completed by Bishop Neon in the mid-5th century. Its dome mosaic shows the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan, ringed by the twelve apostles. It is one of Ravenna's eight early Christian monuments on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Ravenna Cathedral, dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ, stands on the site of the Basilica Ursiana, built by Bishop Ursus in the early 5th century. The present church was rebuilt in the 18th century by the Rimini architect Gianfrancesco Buonamici on the old plan; the round bell tower and the crypt survive from the 10th-century building.

San Vitale is an octagonal brick church begun in 526 under Bishop Ecclesius and consecrated in 547 by Bishop Maximian, paid for by the banker Julius Argentarius. Its apse and presbytery hold 6th-century mosaics, including the panels of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora with their courts; it is one of Ravenna's eight UNESCO World Heritage monuments.

The Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra is a Byzantine private palace of the 5th and 6th centuries, found by chance in 1993 about three metres below street level. Entered through the 18th-century church of Sant'Eufemia, its 14 rooms keep polychrome mosaic and marble floors, among them the Dance of the Genii of the Four Seasons and a Good Shepherd.

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is a small cross-shaped brick chapel built between 425 and 450, once joined to the church of Santa Croce. Inside, mosaics cover the vaults and walls: a dark-blue dome set with gold stars, the Good Shepherd and Saint Lawrence. Despite its name, the empress Galla Placidia was buried in Rome, not here.

The Mausoleum of Theodoric is the tomb that the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great built around 520 outside Ravenna's walls. Its two decagonal storeys are made of squared Istrian stone and roofed by a single carved stone dome about ten metres across; the upper room holds the porphyry tub in which the king was laid.

Mirabilandia is an amusement park in Savio, a village in the municipality of Ravenna about 10 km south of the city centre, opened in 1992. Its themed areas hold roller coasters such as the inverted Katun and the launched iSpeed, the Eurowheel Ferris wheel and shows; the separate Mirabeach water park adjoins it.