Fifteen centuries ago, Ravenna ruled over the West. Capital of the waning Roman Empire, then of the Ostrogothic kings, then of the Byzantine exarchate, the city amassed more treasures in two hundred years than many capitals accumulate in a thousand. The empires have vanished. The mosaics, however, have remained, intact beneath their brick vaults. It's for them that ships now sail up the Adriatic to Porto Corsini.

From the terminal to the historic centre

Ships dock at Porto Corsini, an outer harbour on the canal, about fifteen kilometres from the historic centre. The trip takes 20 to 30 minutes depending on traffic. Shuttles link the terminal to the heart of the city; cruise lines also offer their own transfers. It's best to book your seat early, especially when two ships share the pier on the same day.

Once in town, everything is done on foot. The centre is flat and compact, and the major monuments are concentrated within a radius of a few hundred metres. A combined ticket covers the main sites, which simplifies the day.

San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

The Basilica of San Vitale doesn't look like much from the street: walls of reddish brick, an octagonal silhouette that is almost austere. Then you step through the door. The entire choir sparkles with gold and green, Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora gaze at the visitor across the 6th century, surrounded by their court with astonishingly lifelike faces. You suddenly understand why eight of the city's monuments are on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

In the same garden, the small Mausoleum of Galla Placidia plays a more intimate score. Beneath a midnight-blue vault scattered with golden stars, light filters through slender alabaster windows. Many travellers leave this tiny building more moved than by many cathedrals.

Sant'Apollinare Nuovo and the Baptistery of the Orthodox

Ten minutes' walk away, the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo unfolds along its nave two processions of martyrs and virgins on a gold background, among the most extensive mosaic cycles to survive from antiquity. The Baptistery of the Orthodox, next to the cathedral, preserves a dome where the baptism of Christ has spread out above the font since the 5th century.

Dante, the squares and life in Ravenna

Ravenna also keeps a poet. Exiled from Florence, Dante Alighieri completed the Divine Comedy here and died here in 1321. His tomb, a sober neoclassical chapel next to the Basilica of San Francesco, still draws Italians on literary pilgrimages. Florence has been claiming his remains for centuries; Ravenna has never given in.

Between monuments, Piazza del Popolo invites you to slow down: Venetian façades, café terraces, bicycles whizzing over the cobblestones. The neighbouring lanes are lined with mosaic artisans' shops and trattorias where you can taste piadina, the warm flatbread filled with ham and squacquerone, the region's fresh cheese.

Practical pointers

Leave a comfortable margin for the return shuttle: the outer harbour canal can't be reached on foot.

Back to the ship

Leaving the city, many passengers carry a precise image in their minds: a fragment of vault, a mosaic face, a starry sky fifteen centuries old. Ravenna doesn't try to impress with its size. It simply offers a glimpse of the most enduring thing humanity can create with a few glass tesserae and a great deal of patience. Rarely does a port call of just a few hours span time so well.