Italy 2018 - Ravenna on bike

the three magi; Balthassar, Melchior & Caspar in the Basilica di Sant'apollinare nuovo

Thursday, 21 June 2016 is our last day in Italy, which we spent in Ravenna. Tomorrow we will start our trip home 😭

It's bloody hot today; 30 degrees and hardly any wind. So glad we didn't have to walk like yesterday because .... 

we rented bikes today from O-Bike, which truly is a cool system, easy and user friendly. Here's us on bikes:

me cycling piazza del popolo

breakfast opposite the tomb of Dante

Today we visited the following historical sites (on bike): 

• Baptisterium of Ariani
• Basilica Sant'Apollinare nuovo
• Baptisterium Neoniano
• Archiepiscopal Museum 

ceiling of the Baptisterium of Ariani

The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, with on the left a white-haired, old man in a green cloak, holding a leather bag. He is the personification of the river Jordan. Christ is shown  as a young man without a beard. 

From what we learned from wikipedia this Arian belief (nontrinitarian christological doctrine) was condemned by the Orthodox a few decades later. Yes we learned a lot today about the different christian beiefs in the 6th century. When you are interested see wiki 😏

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Basilica Sant'Apollinare nuovo

This arian church was erected by Ostrogoth King Theodoric the Great as his palace chapel during the first quarter of the 6th century.

It was reconsecrated in 561 AD, under the rule of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, suppressing the Arian cult, the church was dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, a foe of Arianism. According to legend, Pope Gregory the Great ordered that the mosaics in the church be blackened, as their golden glory distracted worshippers from their prayers. 

Mary with Jesus flanked with angles

Jesus WITH beard (Arian) and flanked with angles

outside 

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Baptisterium Neoniano

The most ancient monument remaining in Ravenna, it was partly erected on the site of a Roman bath. It is also called the Orthodox Baptistery to distinguish it from the Arian Baptistery constructed on behest of Ostrogothic King Theodoric some 50 years later.

The ceiling mosaic depicts John the Baptist baptizing Jesus (with beard) standing waist high in the Jordan River. A procession of the twelve apostles proceeds around the center mosaic in two directions, ending with Saint Peter meeting Saint Paul.

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The Archiepiscopal Museum was todays last site we visited, however, no photos allowed. 

The most striking items were:

the mosaic of Jesus as a young man surrounded by 99 species of birds in the  chapel of Sant Andrea.

The marble rosette on the facing wall is a Paschal calendar of the 6th century. Its purpose was to fix the movable feast of Easter in such a way that it might be celebrated everywhere in Christendom on the same day - no easy matter when East and West were using different calendars: the Eastern Church used the Hebrew lunar calendar, while the Western church followed the sun's cycle. Despite the decrees of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD and the tables of Theophilus, in this, as in all matters of faith, people followed their own loyalties. This calendar follows the eastern lunar cycle. 

Time for an icecream:

At our temp home we worked on this blog post and enjoyed the coolness of the appartment (our fridge 👍).
For dinner we cycled back into town on our o-bikes and had a lovely bite at Ca'de Ven

a popular place with lots of Italian families visiting

mix and share

Tomorrow morning we have to be up early, pack, make breakfast and move to .... Alto Adige.
We decided to make a small detour and visit the Elena Walch winery tasting.
Sooo our holiday isn't over yet 😋