Ravenna was a capital three times over, of the late Western Roman Empire, of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric and of Byzantine Italy, and its mosaics come from those centuries. This guide looks at two of the buildings that show this best, the Basilica of San Vitale and the Arian Baptistery, and adds the Giardini Pubblici, the city park where you can take a break between churches.
Basilica of San Vitale
San Vitale was begun around 526, while Ravenna was still ruled by the Ostrogoths, and was completed and consecrated in 547 under Bishop Maximian, by which time the Byzantine emperor Justinian controlled the city. The building was paid for by a local banker, Julius Argentarius. From outside it is a plain, many-sided brick building; inside it is an octagon with a dome at the centre, surrounded by a two-storey ambulatory, a design closer to Constantinople than to Rome.
The mosaics of the presbytery and apse are the reason people come. They are among the largest and best-preserved Byzantine mosaics outside Istanbul, and San Vitale is the only major church from Justinian's time to survive almost intact. Together with seven other early Christian monuments of the city, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. The basilica is one of our scavenger hunt stops.
- The two panels at the foot of the apse: on one side Justinian with Bishop Maximian, clergy and soldiers; on the other the empress Theodora with her court. Maximian is the only figure in the panel named by an inscription.
- In the apse, a young, beardless Christ seated on a globe hands a martyr's crown to Saint Vitalis, while Bishop Ecclesius offers him a model of the church.
- The biblical scenes in the lunettes: Abraham's hospitality and the sacrifice of Isaac, Moses at the burning bush, and Abel offering a lamb.
- The labyrinth in the marble floor of the central octagon, a circular path with a single route. It is often called very old, but experts date it, or at least its present form, to the 15th or 16th century.
Arian Baptistery
This small octagonal brick building was put up by Theodoric the Great around the end of the 5th century, at about the same time as the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo. Theodoric and his Goths were Arian Christians, who held that Christ the Son was not equal to God the Father, and they kept their own churches next to those of the Catholic population. The baptistery stood beside the Arian cathedral, now the church of Santo Spirito. After Justinian's reconquest the Arian faith was suppressed, and around 565 the building became a Catholic oratory dedicated to Mary.
Only the dome mosaic survives, but it is enough. In the centre, a young, naked Christ stands half in the waters of the Jordan while John the Baptist lays a hand on his head and the dove of the Holy Spirit comes down from above. On the other side sits the river Jordan in person: an old man with white hair, red crab claws on his head and a reed in his hand, leaning on an upturned vase from which the river flows. The twelve apostles, led by Peter and Paul, walk in two lines towards an empty throne with a jewelled cross on a purple cushion. The original floor now lies more than two metres below today's street level, so you step down to enter.
- The figure of the Jordan, shown like a pagan river god right next to a Christian sacrament.
- Peter with the keys and Paul with scrolls, leading the apostles, who carry crowns in veiled hands.
- The bricks of the outer walls: some were reused from older Roman buildings.
Giardini Pubblici
The city park, the Giardini Pubblici, lies on the south-east edge of the old centre, behind the church of Santa Maria in Porto and the Loggetta Lombardesca. The land was once the vegetable garden of the monks of Porto, between their monastery and the medieval walls. From 1886 it was used as a riding track, which locals called e' Tond, 'the round one', for its shape, and in the early 20th century it was a place for sport and festivals. The city turned it into a public park in 1931 to 1934, following a simplified version of a design by the architect Giulio Ulisse Arata.
Arata's plan included a sunken Italian-style garden with box hedges, rose beds and a large circular stone fountain, framed by straight avenues of holm oaks that lead from the entrances towards the Loggetta. The park was badly damaged in the Second World War and was later partly restored. Today it has play areas, a fitness trail and some large old trees. The Giardini Pubblici are the first stop of our scavenger hunt.
- The stone fountain in the sunken central garden, designed by Arata.
- The Planetarium of Ravenna, opened in 1985, with a ceramic sundial on its south wall and a copy of an ancient armillary instrument outside.
- The holm oak avenues and the magnolia grove planted in the 1930s.
How to see them in one walk
Start at the Giardini Pubblici, then cross the old centre past the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo on Via di Roma. Turn off Via di Roma into the side streets to the west to reach the Arian Baptistery. From there, continue west across the centre to the Basilica of San Vitale, at the north-west edge of the old town. The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia stands in the same enclosure, a few steps from the basilica, so leave time for it too; the cloisters of the former monastery next door house the National Museum of Ravenna.
See Ravenna with World City Trail
Our Ravenna scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from the Giardini Pubblici to the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, and two of the places in this guide are stops: the Giardini Pubblici and the Basilica of San Vitale. On the way you also visit the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, the Teatro Alighieri, Dante's Tomb, the Neonian Baptistery, Piazza del Popolo, the covered market and Porta Adriana. At each stop you solve a puzzle and learn a story, at your own pace.
There is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Ravenna, for people who prefer a different format.
Play the Ravenna scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Ravenna →
Play the outdoor escape game in Ravenna →
Facts checked in October 2026.