Ravenna and its patron saint

Saint Apollinare

23rd July

Ravenna, the awesome city of mosaics


, and Saint Apollinare, its patron saint: read here what it can offer you, it's a dream city!

Saint Apollinare
Saint Apollinare lived between the 2nd and 3rd century. The information about him is not very well documented, according to some traditions, he might even have been a disciple of Saint Peter the apostle, (although this contrasts with the above mentioned dates.

He was the first bishop of Ravenna, preacher of the Gospel in the Emilia-Romagna region and died as a martyr. Soon he was venerated as a martyr and in 549 the splendid Basilica of Saint Apollinare in Classe, dedicated to him, was consecrated. It also contained the saint's tomb. In the 8th century a pre-existing basilica was restored and renamed Sant'Apollinare nuovo (new Saint Apollinare).
St. Apollinare
St. Apollinare
Byzantine School
Buy at AllPosters.com
More pictures of S. Apollinare

Here above is an image of Saint Apollinare, from the huge mosaic in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe. The saint is represented as a shepherd of souls. Saint Apollinare himself and the sheep are tied together with a red thread representing Christ's blood that unites the believers to the church. You can see it starting from the saint's right hand and arriving to the neck of the sheep at his right (the thread joins many more sheep that cannot be seen in this picture). The other sheep has the thread around one of its legs.

Comune of Ravenna

 Municipality of Ravenna coat of arms
Justinian and His Ministers with Maximian, Bishop of Ravenna

Ravenna is in the Emilia-Romagna region, in central Italy. It has about 134,600 residents and it is a few kilometres away from the Adriatic sea. Centuries ago it was by the sea, but little by little all the soil and the debris taken there by the Po and other rivers have created more Italian territory and now the city is a bit further from the sea. The same happened to Classe, which once was the city port, while now is a suburb outside it. There is where the Basilica of Saint Apollinare in Classe is.


Mosaics, St. Vitalis Church, Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Mosaics, St. Vitalis Church, Emilia-Romagna
Buy at AllPosters.com
More pictures of Ravenna
 As you can see here, this city's jewels are its mosaics, an amazing series of masterworks, I fell in love with those masterpieces when I visited it.

Eight of its monuments, built over 1500 years ago, are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Yet, it's not among the most famous cities of Italy. I recommend you to visit it, it's really unique. Below you can see just a few examples of some of the mosaics from San Vitale's church (the richest in decorations) and the Basilica of Saint Apollinare Nuovo.

All mosaics are made of thousands and thousands of very small "tessera" (square pieces of colored stones and other materials), to compose huge panels covering sometimes all the internal walls of a building, with countless shades of colors, placed so that they reflect the light coming from different points at different times of the day.

So the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (a tomb), has the inside walls and vaults all covered with a dark blue mosaic, to make a beautiful sky with sparkling stars and a few doves, a really peaceful setting.

Other important events
  • Mosaics by night, from 20 June to 5 September, the Basilica of San Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra and the exhibition Otium at San Nicolò, open their doors to the public from 9.00 to 11.30 pm so that they can be seen in a new light, with shows under the stars.
  • July-September: Ravenna Bella di Sera, Events and shows, evening shopping and market stalls
  • I luoghi dello Spirito e del Tempo (The places of Spirit and Time), concerts of classical music
  • July-August: Events at thel Planetarium, activities and lectures
    Festival Naturae, Film, tastes and splendour within a stone's throw from the sea
  • all year: 3rd Saturday and Sunday of each month: Exhibition-market of antiques and handicrafts
  • every month, 3rd Saturday and Sunday: Exhibition-market of natural and biological products
  • mid June-mid September and October-May, every Friday and December: also the following 2nd Saturday and Sunday: Art market stalls
  • all year: every day open air markets in different parts of the city
Enjoy your visit!

Don't miss the opportunity to visit Ravenna at any time of the year!

Ravenna hotels

For more information:
Ufficio Turismo del Comune
via Salara 8
Ravenna RA
Tel +39 0544 35755 - 35404
Fax +39 0544 35094
email: turismo@comune.ravenna.it





Visit the official tourism website of the Comune di Ravenna in English

Cerca nel sito
Google





When you contact this comune let them know you found them on www.calendar-of-patron-saints-and-cities-in-italy.com

Go from Ravenna and Saint Apollinare to the Emilia-Romagna region

click analytics