Delve into the beauty of the early Christian and Byzantine monuments, accompanied by a local tour guide: book my Ravenna guided tours.
Delve into the beauty of the early Christian and Byzantine monuments, accompanied by a local tour guide: book my Ravenna guided tours.
Ravenna is home to 8 monuments that have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1996. These buildings date back about 1,500 years and house magnificent early Christian and Byzantine mosaics. The reason for such splendor lies in the fact that in the 5th and 6th centuries, Ravenna was designated as the capital three times. In the early 5th century, the city hosted the court of the Western Roman Emperor. A few decades later, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Ravenna was chosen as the seat by the Gothic king, Theodoric. Choose one of my guided tours in Ravenna and immerse yourself in the city’s millennia-old history.
Around the middle of the following century, Italy came under the direct control of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian, and the city was confirmed as the capital. Without a doubt, this can be considered the golden age of Ravenna, which sees some of the protagonists of that extraordinary era immortalized in its mosaics. Among them are the aforementioned Justinian and his controversial wife, Theodora.
Ravenna’s UNESCO monuments preserve some of the most beautiful mosaics from this period, magnificently conserved. By following the thread of these events, one can trace the stories of one of the most crucial moments in Italian history, intertwined with the rich symbolism typical of the visual and spiritual culture of the time.
During my Ravenna guided tours, you will discover some of the city’s most famous monuments, such as the Basilica of San Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, the Neon Baptistery, and the Archbishop’s Chapel.
This Ravenna guided tour, exploring the UNESCO sites, will last about 3 hours and can take place in the morning or afternoon. However, if you wish to dedicate more time to discovering Ravenna’s monuments, you might consider exploring the city in a full day. This tour also includes other UNESCO monuments in Ravenna or other significant places in its history. Do not hesitate to contact me for more information.
Church of St Apollinare Nuovo, located on via di Roma 53.
Upon request, I can also meet you at another location in the city center.
3 hours
This tour includes a visit to the following places:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Michael fron U.S.A.
I can’t compliment Luana enough. We had so looked forward to seeing the world heritage sites in Ravenna and the place did not let us down. Luana’s guidance and expertise were invaluable. We came for the day from Bologna. She met us at the train station, escorted us around town and arranged a driver for more distant site visits, got us to lunch and back to the station when it was time to head out. Engage her service and you will not be disappointed.
We really enjoyed the authentic knowledge and evident love for the subject that Luana has. She is not only knowledgeable but passionate. We loved her stories about Theodora , the circus actress turned empress or that of Teodoric, the progressive Goth king who was fluent in Greek and Latin and was ahead of his time in the protection of minorities. You will greatly enjoy her narrative skills and gentle demeanour.
Luana was a superb guide for our 1/2-day visit to see the stunning mosaics of Ravenna. Not only has she studied sacred art for many years, but she is a native of Ravenna and her passion for the history and art in this city is evident. In a clear and unpretentious manner, Luana provided historical context and interesting details for everything we saw: the mosaics, ancient artifacts, as well as explaining how the church buildings themselves came to exist. She really made the stunning mosaics and historic sites of Ravenna come alive for us! We highly recommend taking one of her guided tours. Thank you, Luana.
We had a great tour of the mosaics in Ravenna with Luana. Highly recommend touring the
sites with this well-informed, friendly art historian. We learned so much!
Luana was a fantastic guide for our group of 8 Americans today. None of us are historians, artists or architects but she managed to take us on an adventure spanning centuries of transition of influence from the Western to the Eastern Empires and the Barbarian powers in between. Highly recommended!
Wonderful tour of Ravenna Mosaics with outstanding Art Historian! Luana’s academic expertise, lovely personality and notable patience answering all our questions made this a memorable highlight of our visit to Italy. Most highly recommended and would definitely select Luana again on our next visit to Ravenna!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Johantan from U.S.A.
Luana was exactly the kind of guide we needed for Ravenna! There is so much Christian history inside this beautiful city that it would have been overwhelming on our own. Not only does Luana know the history very well, she articulated it in a way that was interesting and meaningful for our entire family. Thank you for making this visit so enjoyable for us! The hours flew by, and we could have easily kept going. But that’s why we will return one day! We’d love to visit Ravenna time and time again.
Luana is the best tour guide I’ve had in 40 years of traveling. She has boundless energy, a profound knowledge of the subject matter, including the religious iconology, is generous with her time and obviously cares about her clients. I will return to the region and have her guide me to the rest of the towns in the area.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Margaret from U.K.
Luana was a wonderful guide. I had been before but learned so much more on this trip. Luana was so informative, knew so much of the history and background, but was also charming, helpful, spoke excellent English and never made us feel rushed. I would highly recommend a tour with her.