Ravenna, Urbino & Rimini

Left the dull skies of Gatwick behind and got a lovely view of the Dolomites 

on my way to Bologna airport. We drove straight to our first stop at Classe which is just outside Ravenna and the original port although now a few miles inland. It is the site of the church of Saint Apollinare, a sixth century wonder with bell tower.

The bison type animals in the foreground are a recent artwork addition and a number of churches and museums had various very well observed animals situated around them.

It was saved from allied bombing more by luck than judgement, as fortunately the german forces retreated as bombing was about to begin. As you can see the weather is being kind to us and the afternoon sun shows it off to perfection. The mosaics inside are stunning and we are learning to look for certain signs in the pictures.

The sarcofigi show how the original roman style was replaced by more of a mixture of east and west with some of the advanced techniques being lost in the process.

This is shown in the standard of carving of lettering in particular.

That was a good start and the hotel functional but in the centre so walking tomorrow.

We started off in the mausleum of Galla Placidia, a fifth century building, 

she was the wife of an emperor and then regent for her son. A very powerful woman who as it happens died in Rome so unlikely to have inhabited this beautifully decorated tomb.

 This pattern features on much of the local literature, beautiful colours and symetrically pleasing.

 This is the sign for christ, the diagonal cross (greek 'ch' ) the vertical P (greek 'r' ) and alpha to omega (w in greek ) a symbol seen a great deal.

It is close to the Basilica di Sant Vitale another wonderful place full of marvellous mosaics and carved sarcofogus. Built in the 6^th century and less damaged by the sinking sands on which much of Ravenna has been built than other churches of the period. The first photo was taken on a quick stroll near the hotel on the first evening

and this one the following morning on our visit, just look at that sky!

 Peaceful cloisters with many artifacts on the walls

and another of the artworks.

 The main church

 Chapel through some pillars, and below the chapel just covered in mosaics

 Double capitals are much in evidence

 and beautiful marble

This is an attempt to show just how tall and large is the area decorated.

The attached museum has some interesting exhibits , these frescos have been removed from a chapel in danger of collapse and re-assembled to stunning effect.

and more importantly the underlying drawings for the mosaics in Classe which shows peacocks and fountains

rather than sheep which eventually were made. (Scroll back to first pictures!)

Many of the places we visited showed signs of sinking and we rarely saw the original floor and in places you could see where columns had been cut to shorten them. This shows various levels of pavement outside St Vitale and you can see it is a way down from where  I am standing on the modern pavement level.

This sinking has caused many problems although in this flooded crypt in a Franciscan church, because the water is not moving, apparently it is all right!

After lunch we went to a very different mausleum, 6^th century of a 'goth' Theodore the Great, very austere and plain by comparison but this race conquered the area. The stone comes from Istria and the capping stone is one huge piece and there is much conjecture on how it got put in place!

This was followed by a bapistry erected by Theodore, of rather more pleasing aspect

with a very beautifully decorated ceiling showing the baptism of Christ with the apostles round the edge.

It is stunning to think these buildings are 1400 years old and while some have parts of restoration much is still original.

Dante the poet died in Ravenna and his tomb is here, in a quiet corner and during the war his bones were moved and buried close by so they couldn't be taken, my knowledge of his work is not good but the quiet garden with small bell tower in the background is very peaceful and less cramped than the actual tomb!

Our final destination was the church of Saint Apollinare Nuevo, 

called after the bones of the saint were transferred from the church in Classe. Another great space with many fine mosaics although the apse is 'modern' (well in comparison to early 6^th century!) and so out of place it is extraordinary.

Saturday morning finds us at a mosaic workshop where they renovate, copy old mosaics and create new ones. A young Japanese woman showed how they cut the stone and glass much of which still comes from Venice in circular plates not unlike a pizza! This is stone and once small pieces have been made, clippers are used to make the final shape required.

Due to the cutback in public spending the study of mosaics is currently stopped and there are no classes anywhere in Italy which seems rather short sighted for while some of the independent studios such as this one may take on the odd student once away from the rigours of teaching I suspect short cuts etc may slip in with the potential of damage in the future to restoration projects. The subject of cuts being 'discussed' by students in the square

We then visited the Bapistry of Neoniano, a little gem in the middle of modern buildings

 Another baptism!

followed by the cathedral, with buildings very close

It has been built using older stone as evidenced by the floor made from pillars and capitals

and I was rather taken by the pews, painted with a very effective tromp l'oeil effect

 A tiny chapel had the best of the decoration

and it's museum which has this amazing throne made out of ivory panels, one of the missing ones is in Birmingham apparently!

Also a cross with thorns from Jesus' crown (yes more!)

and some great carved capitals

The afternoon was free but despite the lure of the shops I went and looked at the old fort which is not in very good 

condition but then found a museum showing the entire ground floor of a house of 5^th century. As it has been buried for centuries it is very well preserved but unfortunately no photos are allowed . It was quite extraordinary to see such a large area of roman mosaic with the transitions from room to room quite clear by the decoration.


Our last full day was a trip away from the coast to Urbino in the foothills of the Appenines

 to see the Palazzo Ducale of Federico built in 1470/5. 

At the time it was in a very different style with the architect having studied in Florence and brought that style particularly to the courtyard .

It now houses the National Gallery of the Marche with some interesting exhibits

from Il Greco above, as well as Raphael and Piero della Francesca

This is his bedroom which would have been erected to give some privacy and keep out the draughts in much larger multipurpose rooms. It has lovely decoration but might have felt a bit claustrophobic I think.
Federico was renowned as a great war lord, and there are a number of these tablets showing instruments of war, quite was this is (to me very complicated corkscrew!?) I'll leave to you. More obvious are grenades and catapult type contraptions.

 One of the rooms has frescoes unfortunately not in very good shape but showing men at arms.

This is a very naughty photo in as much as we were told no photos after I had taken it! The studiolo is a very small room
about 10' square with amazing marquetry around the lower walls giving the impression of a window, cupboards with books and even tables with musical instruments on. Above were portraits of philosophers, historians and scientists. Not all are in place some being retained by other museums much to the disgust of out guide!

It is believe it was used as a study and a place of peace and quiet away from the bustle of the palace for Federico to make his plans.

This is the entrance to the basement, a vast area of interconnecting rooms, big enough for stabling, store rooms  etc. That the whole place is meant to have been built in about 5 years is extraordinary.

Urbino is built on a hill and so there are lots of sloping streets with occasional glimpses of the countryside beyond.

Raphael was born in Urbino and left when he was about 16, no starving garret but a very large town house and workshop where his father also a painter worked, now a museum but no originals, you have to travel the world for those apart from 'La Muta' in the palazzo.

We then visited the Oratorio di San Giovanni, just covered with Gothic  frescoes, quite busy and full of detail. Plenty to look at if the speaker was boring.

Our final stop was another Oratorio, Giuseppe's this time with quieter frescoes but hugely detailed

and outside a wonderful view of the palace across the valley

then very steep steps down to the coach to leave

 through the arch and away.

Our last meal included braised baby leg shanks from a suckling pig with mustard sauce quite delicious and only a little larger than a chicken leg!

We travelled back to the airport via Rimini not the holiday beaches but to see the Tempio Malatestiano, named for Sigismondo Malatesta and in case he forgot his name it is everywhere

another warlord who had his church built round an earlier one which had paintings by Giotto sadly destroyed in the enlargement. Elephants were his mascot as you can see

There are also some very subversive cherubs along  the front of one of the side chapels

However there is also a fresco by Piero della Francesca 

and a wonderful crucifixion the only remaining work of Giotto.

The outside of the church, unfinished as Sigismundo died,

is based in part on the Roman arch which designated one of the divides between the east and western parts of the Roman Empire.

The market square has a lovely old drinking fountain, still in use

and the main square, previously the forum now a lovely space with clock tower and lots of cafes.

As this shows the weather getting more cloudy, leaving was not quite so bad, but warm, no rain and some fabulous
art of various types, not to mention good food and wine made it a few days to remember.

PS. Scanned the leaflet from the Roman floor mosaics and a postcard of the Studiolo for better view.