Ravenna (pronounced rə-VEHN-ə; Italian: [raˈvenna]; Romagnol: Ravèna, Ravêna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until the empire fell in 476. After that, it became the capital of the Ostrogoth kingdom and later the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna. As of 2025, the city has 156,444 people.

Ravenna was first settled by the Umbri people. It came under control of the Roman Republic in 89 BC. Octavian built a military harbor called Classis at Ravenna, and the city remained an important port on the Adriatic Sea until the early Middle Ages. The city thrived under Roman rule. In 401, Western Roman Emperor Honorius moved his court from Mediolanum to Ravenna, making it the empire’s capital for most of the 5th century.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Ravenna became the capital of Odoacer until he was defeated by the Ostrogoth king Theodoric. In 540, the Byzantine general Belisarius captured Ravenna for the Byzantine Empire, and the city became the capital of Byzantine Italy. After a short period of Lombard control, Ravenna came under the authority of the Papacy and remained part of the Papal States until the mid-19th century, when it was added to the newly formed Kingdom of Italy.

Although Ravenna is inland, it is connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Candiano Canal. The city is famous for its well-preserved late Roman and Byzantine buildings, including eight structures that make up the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna." Because of the many mosaics found there, Ravenna is often called the "capital of mosaics" and is known for teaching workshops and schools focused on mosaic art.

History

The origin of the name Ravenna is not clear. Some people think "Ravenna" might be connected to "Rasenna" (or "Rasna"), a name the Etruscans used for themselves. However, there is no agreement about this connection.

The history of Ravenna is uncertain. The oldest evidence from digging shows that the Umbri lived in Ravenna at least as early as the 5th century BC. They lived there without much outside contact until the 3rd century BC, when the Romans began to influence the area. Other groups, like the Senones, also lived in parts of Ravenna, especially in the southern countryside. Ravenna was built on small islands in a wet, marshy area, similar to how Venice was built centuries later. The Romans did not pay much attention to Ravenna during their early conquests of the Po River Delta, but they later accepted it as a town with special rights in 89 BC.

In 49 BC, Julius Caesar gathered his army in Ravenna before crossing the Rubicon River. Later, Octavian (who later became Emperor Augustus) built a military harbor called Classis in 31 BC after defeating Mark Antony. This harbor was important for the Roman navy. Today, Ravenna is not near the sea, but it was a major port on the Adriatic Sea until the early Middle Ages. During Germanic invasions, Thusnelda, the wife of Arminius, and Marbod, the king of the Marcomanni, were held in Ravenna.

Ravenna thrived under Roman rule. Emperor Trajan built a 70 km (43.5 mi) long aqueduct in the early 2nd century. During the Marcomannic Wars, Germanic settlers in Ravenna rebelled and captured the city. Because of this, Emperor Marcus Aurelius decided not to bring more barbarians into Italy and even ordered existing ones to leave. In 402, Emperor Honorius moved his residence to Ravenna, making it the actual capital of the Western Roman Empire. It remained the capital for most of the 5th century, and the last Western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was removed from power there in AD 476. At that time, the city had about 50,000 people. The move to Ravenna was partly because the city was surrounded by swamps, which made it easier to defend. It was also because of its port and strong sea connections to the Eastern Roman Empire. In 409, King Alaric I of the Visigoths avoided Ravenna and later attacked Rome in 410 and took Galla Placidia, the daughter of Emperor Theodosius I, as a prisoner.

After many changes, Galla Placidia returned to Ravenna with her son, Emperor Valentinian III, because of support from her nephew, Theodosius II. During this time, Ravenna had peace, and the imperial court supported Christianity. The city became known for famous buildings, including the Orthodox Baptistry, the misnamed Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (she was not buried there), and San Giovanni Evangelista.

By the late 5th century, Roman control in the West ended. Romulus Augustulus was removed from power in 476 by the general Odoacer, who ruled Italy as king for 13 years. In 489, the Eastern Emperor Zeno sent Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogoth king, to reclaim Italy. After losing the Battle of Verona, Odoacer fled to Ravenna, where he resisted a three-year siege by Theodoric. When supplies ran out, Theodoric captured Ravenna in 493, killing Odoacer. Ravenna became the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy. Theodoric built many grand structures, including his palace church, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, an Arian cathedral (now Santo Spirito), and his own Mausoleum.

Odoacer, Theodoric, and their followers were Arian Christians, but they lived peacefully with the Latins, who were mostly Nicene Christians. Nicene bishops in Ravenna completed important projects, though only one, the Cappella Arcivescovile, remains today. Theodoric allowed Roman citizens to follow Roman laws, while Goths lived under their own laws. In 519, after a mob burned Ravenna’s synagogues, Theodoric ordered the city to rebuild them at its own expense.

Theodoric died in 526 and was succeeded by his grandson Athalaric, who was ruled by his grandmother Amalasuintha. By 535, both were dead, and Theodoric’s line was only represented by his granddaughter, Mataswintha. Many Ostrogothic leaders tried to rule Italy, but none were as successful as Theodoric. Meanwhile, the Chalcedonian Emperor Justinian I opposed Ostrogoth rule and Arian Christianity. In 535, his general Belisarius invaded Italy and captured Ravenna in 540. After completing the conquest of Italy in 554, Ravenna became the center of Byzantine government in Italy.

Between 540 and 600, Ravenna’s bishops built many churches in Ravenna and the nearby port city of Classe. Surviving examples include the Basilica of San Vitale, the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, and the partially preserved San Michele in Africisco.

After Belisarius’ conquests for Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century, Ravenna became the seat of the Byzantine governor of Italy, the Exarch, and was known as the Exarchate of Ravenna. This was when the Ravenna Cosmography was written.

Under Byzantine rule, the archbishop of Ravenna was temporarily given independence from the Roman Church in 666, but this was later taken away. The archbishop of Ravenna held the second most important position in Italy after the pope and was involved in many religious debates during this time.

In 712, the Lombards, led by King Liutprand, captured Ravenna but had to return it to the Byzantines. Later, Aistulf, the Lombard Duke of Friuli, became king in 749 and aggressively expanded into the Exarchate of Ravenna and the territory claimed by the Pope through the Patrimony of Saint Peter.

In 751, the Byzantines gave up the Exarchate of Ravenna to Aistulf. Aistulf then threatened Rome, claiming authority and demanding tribute. Pope Stephen II asked for help from Aistulf but was ignored. In 753, Pope Stephen

Major monuments

Eight early Christian buildings in Ravenna are listed as a World Heritage Site. These include:

• Orthodox Baptistery, also called "Baptistery of Neon" (around 430)
• Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (around 430)
• Arian Baptistery (around 500)
• Archiepiscopal Chapel (around 500)
• Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (around 500)
• Mausoleum of Theodoric (520)
• Basilica of San Vitale (548)
• Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe (549)

Other historic sites include:

• The church of San Giovanni Evangelista was built in the 5th century by Galla Placidia after she survived a storm at sea. It was restored after damage from World War II bombings. The bell tower has four bells, with two of them dating back to 1208.
• The 6th-century church of the Spirito Santo has changed greatly since the 6th century. It was originally the Arian cathedral. The front of the church has a 16th-century portico with five arches.

• The Basilica of San Francesco was rebuilt in the 10th–11th centuries over an earlier building that was first dedicated to the Apostles and later to St. Peter. Behind its simple brick front, it has a central hall and two side halls. Pieces of mosaics from the first church are visible on the floor, which often becomes flooded after heavy rains (along with the crypt). In 1321, the funeral ceremony of Dante Alighieri was held here. The poet is buried in a tomb near the church, and local leaders have refused for centuries to return his remains to Florence.
• The Baroque church of Santa Maria Maggiore (525–532, rebuilt in 1671) contains a painting by Luca Longhi.
• The church of San Giovanni Battista (1683), also in Baroque style, has a bell tower from the Middle Ages.
• The basilica of Santa Maria in Porto (16th century) has a richly decorated front from the 18th century. It has a central hall and two side halls, with a tall dome. It houses an image of a famous Greek Madonna, which was supposedly brought to Ravenna from Constantinople.
• The nearby Communal Gallery displays works by local painters.
• The Rocca Brancaleone (Brancaleone Castle), built by the Venetians in 1457, was once part of the city walls. It is now a public park and has two sections: the true castle and the Citadel, which covers 14,000 square meters.
• The "so-called Palace of Theodoric" is actually the entrance to the former church of San Salvatore. It includes mosaics from the real palace of the Ostrogoth king.
• The church of Sant'Eufemia (18th century) leads to the "Stone Carpets Domus" (6th–7th century), which contains mosaics from a Byzantine palace.
• The National Museum
• The Archiepiscopal Museum
• The Capanno Garibaldi, a hunting cabin on the road to Porto Corsini, is known for sheltering Giuseppe Garibaldi on the night of August 6–7, 1849.

Other notable features include:
• Early Christian and Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna
• Triumphal arch mosaics in the Basilica of San Vitale
• Garden of Eden mosaic in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (5th century CE)
• Arian Baptistry ceiling mosaic
• Baptistry of Neon mosaic
• 6th-century mosaic of Jesus in Byzantine style in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo
• Mosaic of the Palace of Theodoric in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo. The panel originally showed the church's patrons, the Arian Ostrogoths. After the Byzantine conquest of Italy, the images of the Ostrogoths were covered with a layer of mosaics.

Music

The city holds the Ravenna Festival every year. Opera shows are performed at the Teatro Alighieri, and concerts are held at the Palazzo Mauro de André, the ancient Basilica of San Vitale, and the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe. Riccardo Muti, the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, has lived in the city for many years and often takes part in the festival. The event brings in orchestras and other performers from all over the world.

In literature

• After being exiled from his home city of Florence, Dante spent much of his later life in Ravenna. He mentions the city in Canto V of his work Inferno.
• In the 16th century, Nostradamus wrote four prophecies that mention Ravenna, including references to a canal in trouble and fifteen French saboteurs. The prophecies also describe a battle near Perugia, a sacred escape, and events involving a lady near Ravenna and 70 souls captured at sea. Ravenna is one of three similarly named places linked to the birth of the third and final Antichrist, who is said to enslave Slovenia (see Ravne na Koroškem).
• The city of Ravenna is the setting for The Witch, a play written in the 1610s by Thomas Middleton.
• Lord Byron lived in Ravenna from 1819 to 1821, inspired by his love for a local aristocratic woman named Teresa Guiccioli. During this time, he continued writing his poem Don Juan and created works such as Ravenna Diary, My Dictionary, and Recollections.
• In Mary Shelley’s post-apocalyptic novel The Last Man, the main character, Lionel, arrives in Ravenna after losing his companions to a storm in the Aegean Sea.
• Oscar Wilde wrote a poem titled Ravenna in 1878.
• Alexander Blok, a Symbolist poet, wrote a poem titled Ravenna (May–June 1909) after visiting Italy during spring 1909.
• During his travels, German writer Hermann Hesse visited Ravenna and was inspired to write two poems about the city, titled Ravenna (1) and Ravenna (2).
• In his French poem Lune de Miel, T. S. Eliot describes a newlywed couple from Indiana staying near the ancient Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, a site outside Ravenna known for carved column capitals showing wind-battered acanthus leaves.
• J.R.R. Tolkien may have based his fictional city of Minas Tirith partly on Ravenna.

In film

Michelangelo Antonioni shot his 1964 movie Red Desert (Deserto Rosso) in the industrial areas of the Pialassa valley.

Transport

Ravenna has an important place for business and tourism.

Ravenna railway station offers direct train service to Bologna, Ferrara, Lecce, Milan, Parma, Rimini, and Verona.

Ravenna Airport is in Ravenna. The closest commercial airports are in Forlì, Rimini, and Bologna.

Freeways that pass through Ravenna include the A14-bis, which connects to Bologna. Other major routes are the E45, which comes from Rome, and the E55, which connects to Venice through the SS-309 "Romea" road. Additionally, the SS-16, sometimes called the "Adriatica," runs along the Ferrara-Rimini route.

Twin towns – sister cities

Ravenna is twinned with the following cities:

• Chichester, United Kingdom, since 1996
• Speyer, Germany, since 1989
• Chartres, France, since 1957

Sport

The long-standing football club of the city is Ravenna F.C. At present, it plays in the third level of Italian football, known as Serie C.

A.P.D. Ribelle 1927 is the football club of Castiglione di Ravenna, a town located south of Ravenna.

The beaches of Ravenna hosted the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which took place in September 2011.

Notable people

• Valentinian III (419–455), Roman Emperor
• Matteo Plazzi, Italian sailor
• Patrizio Ravennate (active in the late 14th Century), historian and chronicler
• Giacomo Anziani (1681–1723), Italian architect, painter, and engraver
• Laura Pausini (born 1974), Italian pop singer-songwriter, record producer, and television personality
• Raul Gardini (1933–1993), Italian businessman
• Franco Manzecchi (1931–1979), Jazz drummer
• Andrea Montanari (born 1965), Italian sprinter
• Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713), Baroque violinist and composer
• Luigi Legnani (1790–1877), guitarist and luthier
• Tullio Bassi (born 1937), Italian violin maker
• Peter Damian (c. 988 – 1072 or 1073), Catholic Saint and Cardinal
• Francesco Ingoli (1578–1649), Theatine scientist, lawyer, and disputer of Galileo
• Francesca da Rimini (1255 – c. 1285), historical person
• Guido I da Polenta (died 1310), lord of Ravenna
• Francesco Baracca (1888–1918), Italy's top fighter ace of World War I
• Federico Caricasulo (born 1996), motorcycle road racer
• Marco Melandri (born 1982), motorcycle road racer
• Davide Tardozzi (born 1959), Superbike racer and team manager
• Ivano Marescotti (1946–2023), actor
• Amadeus (presenter) (born 1962), presenter
• Romolo Gessi (1831–1881), explorer
• Romuald (c. 951 – c. 1025/27), abbot, founder of the Camaldolese order
• Marco Dente (1493–1527), engraver
• Paolo Roversi (born 1947), fashion photographer
• Camillo Spreti (1743–1830), marquis and writer
• Angelo Mariani (conductor) (1821–1873), conductor
• Giuseppe Vitali (1875–1932), mathematician
• Evangelista Torricelli (1606–1647), physicist and mathematician
• Federico Marchetti (businessman) (born 1969), founder of YOOX
• Gianluca Costantini (born 1971), artist
• Luigi Legnani (1790–1877), musician and composer
• Luigi Rossini (1790–1857), artist
• Alex Majoli (born 1971), photographer
• Gianluca de Lorenzi (born 1972), racing driver and team owner
• Fabio Fabiani (born 1974), racing driver
• Eugenio Pisani (born 1991), racing driver
• Cesare Casadei (born 2003), football player