Ravenna as a game: Theodoric, Dante and the Byzantines in ten riddles
The Ravenna scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk from landmark to landmark, solve a riddle at each one by looking closely at what is in front of you, and unlock the stories and legends behind it. From the gardens to Galla Placidia the walking comes to 2.8 km, roughly 38 minutes shared out across 10 stops, and once the riddles and stories are added the full game lasts about 2 hours, starting the moment your team is ready.
Highlights include the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo built by Theodoric, Dante's Tomb, the octagonal Neonian Baptistery, Piazza del Popolo with its Venetian columns, the Basilica of San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Ravenna's centre is flat and compact, so on foot you link early Christian monuments, Dante's last home town and lively squares in one easy walk.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 38 min · 2.8 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
Ten clues across the city of Dante and Theodoric
Theodoric's tower, Dante's temple, Venetian columns
At every stop one riddle hides in what you can see from outside: the round bell tower of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, the little neoclassical temple over Dante's grave, the saints on top of the two columns in Piazza del Popolo. Look carefully, think it through and the answer appears, with no need to tell your Ostrogoths from your Byzantines.
A king, an empress and an exiled poet
Each answer unlocks the stories: the Ostrogothic king who built himself a palace church, the empress whose name is on a mausoleum she was probably never buried in, the oil that Florence sends every year for the lamp over Dante's tomb. With the audio narration on, you hear these tales through your earphones on the walk between stops.
From the gardens out to the Porta Adriana
The route covers 2.8 km with about 38 minutes on foot, along Via di Roma, through the squares of the centre and west along Via Cavour to the old city gate, then on to San Vitale. Google Maps guides each leg, and the town is flat from end to end.
Piadina at the market, coffee on the piazza
The game pauses whenever you do, so you can step into the Mercato Coperto for a piadina or sit down for a coffee on Piazza del Popolo. Resume later the same day, or keep the last two stops for the following morning.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of players. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Play when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who plays the Ravenna game
Day trips from Bologna and cruise calls
Ravenna is an easy train ride from Bologna and a port of call for cruise ships, and in about 2 hours this game strings together the monuments most visitors come for. You finish right beside San Vitale, ready to go inside if you wish.
Families with curious children
Children enjoy the riddles about the round tower, the battlemented town hall and the saints high up on their columns, and the short legs between stops keep the pace gentle. An adult plays in each team and keeps an eye on the traffic along Via di Roma.
School classes and company teams
Teams of up to 5 play with the game on each member's phone, so a class or a department can set off from the Giardini Pubblici in several groups and compare answers outside San Vitale at the end. The route uses public streets and squares only.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Teams of up to 5 work best; bigger groups split into several teams, one ticket per player.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
The route: Giardini Pubblici, Via di Roma, Dante's Tomb, Via Cavour and San Vitale
10 stops · about 38 min walking · start: Giardini Pubblici · finish: Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
The hunt starts in the Giardini Pubblici by the Loggetta Lombardesca and heads along Via di Roma to Sant'Apollinare Nuovo and the Teatro Alighieri. You then reach Dante's Tomb, the Neonian Baptistery and Piazza del Popolo, pass the Mercato Coperto and walk along Via Cavour to the Porta Adriana. The finish is at the Basilica of San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Every answer is on a façade, a column or a gate, so the game itself never asks for an entry ticket, and in the app you can make any of the ten stops your first and rearrange the others, which helps if you want to reach San Vitale early in the day.
Open the route map ↗
1Giardini PubbliciStart
Ravenna's public gardens are a green park of shady paths and old trees on the edge of the historic centre. They are overlooked by the Loggetta Lombardesca, the Renaissance loggia of the former monastery of Santa Maria in Porto, which now houses the city's art museum, MAR.
2Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo
The Ostrogothic king Theodoric built this church in the early 6th century as his palace church for Arian worship. Inside, long mosaic processions of martyrs and virgins line the nave, and one panel shows his palace. From the street, look for the round brick bell tower beside the portico.
Read the full story →
3Teatro Alighieri
Ravenna's opera house is named after Dante Alighieri and opened in 1852. It was designed by the Venetian architects Tommaso and Giovan Battista Meduna, who had also rebuilt Venice's La Fenice. Its neoclassical columned front faces Via Mariani, and it is one of the main venues of the Ravenna Festival.
4Dante's Tomb
Dante Alighieri died in exile in Ravenna in 1321 and was buried beside the Basilica of San Francesco. The small neoclassical temple over his tomb was built in 1780–1781 to designs by Camillo Morigia. Inside hangs a votive lamp whose oil is donated every year by Florence, the city that had banished him.
Read the full story →
5Neonian Baptistery
This octagonal brick baptistery next to the cathedral, also called the Baptistery of the Orthodox, is one of the oldest monuments in Ravenna. Bishop Neon had it decorated with mosaics in the mid-5th century, and the dome shows the Baptism of Christ surrounded by the Twelve Apostles. Notice how it sits below today's street level.
Read the full story →
6Piazza del Popolo
Ravenna's main square took its present shape under Venetian rule in the 15th century. Two granite columns raised by the Venetians in 1483 now carry statues of the city's patron saints, Apollinaris and Vitalis. The battlemented Palazzo Comunale, known as Palazzo Merlato, is Ravenna's town hall.
Read the full story →
7Mercato Coperto
Ravenna's covered market hall on Piazza Andrea Costa was built in the early 20th century, a few steps from Piazza del Popolo. After a renovation it reopened as a food market, where local produce and Romagna specialities such as piadina are sold under the original roof.
Read the full story →
8Porta Adriana
This monumental stone gate stands at the western end of Via Cavour, one of the main streets leading into the centre. Its present form dates from the late 16th century, when an older gate in the city walls was rebuilt. Its name is often linked to the Roman emperor Hadrian, but its origin is debated.
Read the full story →
9Basilica of San Vitale
Begun around 526 and consecrated in the 540s, this octagonal church is one of the most important monuments of early Christian art in Europe. Its apse mosaics show the Byzantine emperor Justinian and empress Theodora with their courts. Since 1996 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ravenna's early Christian monuments.
10Mausoleum of Galla PlacidiaFinish
This small cross-shaped brick building dates from the first half of the 5th century and bears the name of Galla Placidia, daughter of Emperor Theodosius I, who ruled the Western Empire for her young son. Its plain walls hide a vault of deep blue mosaics with golden stars. Despite its name, she was most probably not buried here.
Read the full story →
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.