A Day Trip to Ravenna

Last night, when Steve told us that we had to be ready to go by 6:50 AM, I thought I might die; it was so much worse than I expected it. After having the responsibility of the previous weekend regarding trains in my empathy file, I couldn't fall asleep! I was worried that I wouldn't wake up on time, my roommates wouldn't wake up on time, and that all of the students wouldn't wake up on time. In addition, it was pretty loud so I just couldn't fall asleep. Luckily though, everyone was ready to go by 6:50. 

We made the walk to the train and waited for it to show up. The board which updates passengers which platform any given train might be on wouldn't update. It was a minute before the train was meant to leave when it updated and said that it was literally on the furthest platform from where we were at. We were headed to Ravenna, which is about 3-ish hours from Florence so we wanted to be on the train early in order to ensure that we had seats. 

Once the board updated, there was a grand exodus and everyone made a mad dash to the train. Some of my classmates didn't get seats, but within a few train stops enough people got off and they were able to sit down.

Since I had finished all my other books and needed something to read, Steve lent me Andrew Graham-Dixon's Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane. I've read little portions of it for research papers but never had the chance to read it cover to cover. The moment I opened it up, though, I just fell asleep. Typically I can't fall asleep on trains or in cars, but I was given a gift. When I woke up, I was ready to read!

When I thought of Ravenna, I expected it to look something like Assisi. Instead it looked like a regular city; I almost thought I was in Utah, if I forgot that we were right on the coast of the Adriatic Sea (it is on the east side of Italy).

So what makes Ravenna so special? Essentially the entire city is protected by the United Nations. It is rich with Early Christian and Byzantine art. At the end of the 300's CE, the Roman empire was split in two halves. Rome itself was in bad condition with Constantine gone. In 404, Rome was abandoned until the barbarians came in. For a minute, Ravenna was the capitol until Constantinople was put into action. 

The emperor Honorius named his sister, Galla Placidia, as the temporary governess and she really made the art sparkle; she reigned with the pomp and circumstance of Ancient Rome. 

During World War II, it was hit pretty bad. We still have some incredible art work but I wonder what it looked like before then. 

The first place we checked out was Sant' Apollinare Nuovo. Here is what the front, or facade, of the church looks like.

The mosaics in this church were done by the Goth Theodric in 490-520. It has a simple plan (a nave with aisles and no trancept (so no cross shape at all)). At the end of the church in the apse (semi-circular part) is art from the Rococo. On the south and north walls are ancient Byzantine mosaics. The top section is the oldest and features scenes from the life of Christ. The section below that has figures of saints. The bottom section has male saints and martyrs on one side and on the other side has female saints and martyrs. The figures all look the same, which is standard in Byzantine art.

The bottom section is important because it originally had some other images but the emperor Justinian (way back in the day) wanted to stamp out and eliminate Arianism, which is a doctrine which questions the divinity of Christ. 

The next place we checked out was the Church of Saint Francis. The oldest part of the church was built around the 10th century and is currently submerged in water. I've included images of the crypt, which is the part that is filled with water due to the changing water table. In this pool, there is an original 5th century marble altar. 

Someone decided, once, to put fish in here and they are still here! They are swimming and having a very nice life. I'm not sure how they are being fed but they're okay for now!

Okay, so remember when we saw Dante's tomb the other day? So I guess that was just a memorial to Dante. He got exiled from Florence and he ended up dying in Ravenna where they erected a tomb and monument for him. During World War II, they had to hide his bones because I guess that is something you have to do during war times. Recently, Florence has been asking for his bones back and Ravenna said something along the lines of "You already kicked him out and he is ours now."

Before breaking for lunch we went to the Neonian Baptistery. It is an orthodox baptistery which is the most ancient building in Ravenna. It was built over an Ancient Roman bath house, which makes sense because it provides a water source; it's pretty common, honestly. Originally, it was about 10 feet lower into the ground; however, due to the water tables, it is where it is at today. It is in an octagonal (8-sided shape) for the seven days of the week plus the one day of resurrection. The ceiling mosaic shows the baptism of Christ. Something I do not like in these depictions of the baptism of Christ, is that Christ is naked. That's just weird! And the bottom half of him is submerged in water, but that didn't stop the Byzantines from including his nakedness. Weird.

This is the exterior of the Basilica of San Vitale. In 547, it was built by Bishop Maximian who is included in the interior mosaic. It has a central plan (Greek Cross) and has a dome. There is a royal or imperial quality due to emperor Justinian. 

This is a mosaic of Emperor Justinian with his posse. He is dressed like a saint to give the impression of having an eternal presence. Fun fact about EJ, he was originally a peasant but his uncle really hooked him up. 

This mosaic is across from Justinian and it is of his wife Theodora. Originally she was probably a prostitute who's father was a bear trainer. Justinian wanted to marry her right away. She grew to be the most influential woman of the empire even though she wasn't the co-ruler. 

Here's some more mosaics. The tiles are made out of glazed terracotta. Crazy!

Christ is beardless and is shown sitting on a globe which is symbolic of the world.

This is the mausoleum of Galla Placidian, the sister of Justinian. It is just dressed to the nines, honestly. The windows are thinly cut alabaster, which is insane!

This is a mosaic of Christ as the good shepherd.

This is the Arian Baptistery which was built under the Gothic King Theoderic at the end of the 5th century. He really wanted there to be equal opportunities for people to get baptized since he knew people were prejudiced. 

Again, in this mosaic, Christ is naked, even though (in my opinion) he doesn't have to be. It's just weird. He is shown beardless and a little less masculine. There is a procession of apostles around the outside. It took several years to be completed, which we knew due to research showing the different types of tiles. When it was discovered, they found about 500 pounds of mosaic tiles on the ground which is probably due to it getting defaced because people didn't like the Arians. Intolerance is the worst, honestly. Just because someone doesn't believe the same things as you doesn't mean you should be violent or awful.

After this baptistery, I started to feel sick from something I ate so I just went to the train station and waited for the train to come. After having a sprite, I felt a little better. On the train, I fell asleep for a bit and when I woke up, I kept reading my book.

Tomorrow is the last day of class and I cannot believe how fast this has all gone.