Pretty much the rest of last week was just classes and hanging out until Saturday. We left early morn heading for a weekend in Ravenna. Ravenna was very beautiful! We basically just saw a lot of churches! Lots of walking and lots of churches :) Not quite sure what else to say about it, but it was interesting that one of the shops used to be a church...it was kind of crazy! This is the shop below...
Ravenna is on the tourist map for one reason: its 1,500-year-old churches decorated with best-in-the-west Byzantine mosaics. Briefly a capital of eastern Rome during its fall, Ravenna was taken by the barbarians. Then in AD 539, the Byzantine emperor Justinian turned Ravenna into Byzantium's lieutenant in the west. Ravenna was a light in the Dark Ages. Two hundred years later, the Lombards booted Byzantine out, and Ravenna melted into the backwaters of medieval Italy and stayed out of historical sight for a thousand years. Today the city booms with a big chemical industry, the discovery of offshore gas deposits, and the construction of a new ship canal. It goes busily on its way, while busloads of tourists slip quietly in and out of town for the best look at the glories of Byzantium this side of Istanbul.
And here are a couple places we stopped at...
The Basilica di San Vitale, at 1,400 years old, is impressive enough on its own. But to see its brilliant mosaics still conveying the intended feeling that "this peace and stability was brought to you by your emperor and by God" is rare indeed. Study the scenes of apostles, the lamb on the twinkly ceiling, the beardless Christ astride a blue earth, and Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora (an aggressive Constantinople showgirl who used all her charms to gain power with — and even over — her emperor husband) in their lavish court. San Vitale can be seen as the last of the ancient Roman art and the first of the Christian era. This church was the prototype for Constantinople's Hagia Sophia built 10 years later, and it inspired Charlemagne to build the first great church in northern Europe in his capital of Aix-la-Chapelle, now present-day Aachen.
The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, just across the courtyard from the basilica, is the humble-looking little mausoleum with the oldest — and to many, the best — mosaics in Ravenna. The little light that sneaks through the thin alabaster panels brings a glow and a twinkle to the very early Christian symbolism (Jesus the Good Shepherd, Mark's lion, Luke's ox, John's eagle, the golden cross above everything) that fills the little room. Cover the light of the door with your hand to see the beardless Christ as the Good Shepherd.
Let me know if there is anything else you want to know!
Just so you all know I will be spending the weekend in Ireland! I am extremely excited because it's a place I've always dreamed about going to so when I get back Sunday I will update you of my travels :)
Have a great St. Patrick's Day!
Ciao!
Amanda
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