Ravenna: Hagìa Anástasis … Now Duomo

With Mui off on his own for his timed-entry to see mosaics and more, I wandered around outdoors for a while. It was starting to feel downright hot in the sun, however. Seeing as how it was in the immediate vicinity, I decided to take refuge by visiting the duomo.

The Cathedral of Ravenna dates back to 402 AD … when the city replaced Milano as the capital of the Roman Empire. Dedicated to the Resurrection of Jesus (in Greek, Hagìa Anástasis) at the time, it later became the Basilica Ursiana … in honor of Bishop Ursus.

The building saw its first transformation in 1112 when the mosaics in the apse were removed. Heavily damaged during the Battle of Ravenna in 1512, it was eventually rebuilt in the mid-18th century with significant changes made. Its current design is Baroque, though the dome itself in Neoclassical. Despite all of the changes, the 10th century bell tower was retained as is.

I was taking a look at the “Easter Representation” — in the style of a Neapolitan nativity scene — when Mui called to say he was sitting in one of the pews at the duomo waiting for me to join him … no idea that I was there as well.

Time to go see our next UNESCO-listed mosaics.Leggi altro