RAVENNA, ra-ven'a, capital of the Ital ian province of the same name, in the corn partimento of Emilia, about 45 miles east of Bologna. It is situated on marshy ground which was, within historic times, a lagoon and the scenes of extensive maritime movement. The Cursini Canal and the two) non-navigable streams: Montone and Ronco, connect Ravenna with the Adriatic, where there is a harbor at the, mouth of the canal. The city has also tailway connection, with.Bologna, on the west, on :the' Perth, Rimini,, .on the south qoast by the Adriatic ailways, which sldrting the .west share of .the Adriaticjoins Ravenna with Brindisi in thelar south.: The connection with other places along the 'shore of the * nade by • the', Mediterranean. Railways., Ravenna is .joined to . all the great western' centres of •comisereial activity .by lines of rail way. cormecting with, the . Adriatic Raitvays. .It has exteetsive•arks and gardens, most. of which, lie outside the compact centre of the city, which is occupied by the Piazza Vittorio Emanuel& This 'Piazza, and other pdblic squares and parks, possess many interesting statues and, other sculptured Work. Owing to the fact that it was an imperial, political and ecclesiastical' centre for many ,years, Ravenna is now one of the greatest depositaries of ecclesiastical archi tectural art in Italy; more especially of the art of the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th centuries, which is a curious mingling of Roman, early Christian and Byzantine construction. Among the notable ecclesiastical edifices of the city, with the date of completion in each case, are Ecclesia Ursiana, known as the Metropolitan Church (390), San Giovanni Evangelista (425), Santa Agata (435), San Pier Crysologo (450), San Giovanni Bat tista (450), Nazario Celso (450), San Pier Maggiore (458), also called San Francesco, San Teodoro (526), also known as Santo Spirito, Santa Maria in Cosmodin (526). San Martino (526), now called Apollinare Nuovo, San Vitale (530), Santa Maria Maggiore (530), San Apol linare in Classe (535). The early cathedral, completed in 390, was destroyed toward the middle of the 18th century, and only some small parts of it and some decorations remain incor porated in the modern edifice. From 404 to 455, when Vienna was the official imperial resi dence, was a period of great architectural activity in the city. This includes six great
churches and the Basilica Petriana, which has been demolished. Most of the other churches have been remodeled, added to or almost alto gether rebuilt, but they all have incorporated in them interesting reminders of the original struc tures which preceded them. The modern churches are rich in mosaics, capitals, columns, crypts, frescoes, statuary, wall decorations and other paintings. The close of the period above indicated showed a very decided decrease in the building activity and art creation of Ravenna. But the reign of Theodoric (493-526) again awakened the latent artistic life of the city. Theodoric himself built a huge palace in the eastern quarter of the capital; but this has long since disappeared; and he also erected for himself a massive marble mausoleum at the northeast of the city. This building, which is still standing, is circular, two stories in height and crowned by a monster monolith of more than 300 tons weight. It is now a church dedi cated to the Virgin. San Apollinare Nuovo was built by Theodoric himself. In his day it was the largest and one of the handsomest of the Arian churches. The impetus given to building and art by Theodoric was communicated to the reigns of several of his successors. A part of the activity of this period is indicated by the list of prominent churches already cited. The city is rich in remains of the past and of the imperial and ecclesiastical occupations, in museums, tombs and other historical landmarks, among these being the palace and tomb of Theodoric already mentioned, the tomb of Dante and the temple containing it, Lord Byron's house, old Roman and other roads in the neighborhood and buried and partially ex cavated ruins of the ancient city. Near to the. modern city are also. remains of the 'ancient harbors/ in the near-by marshes stands the vast ecclesiastical edifice of Apoiliatare in Clime,' odth its line' mosaics of the 6th and 7th taints, Among. the other notable monuments of the • city. are ;the' granite columns of the Pktraa Vittotno. Emanuele• set up ' there by the .Vene- dens (1483) and the statues of San.Apollinaria and San Vitalis.