September 20, 2024–
Ravenna and San Marino
Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna region, not the Veneto region: Known for Byzantine (as in 300, 400, 500 A.D. mosaics; Seven UNESCO world heritage sites in this city alone)! We wanted to see the mosaics at San Vitale Church and its adjacent Baptistry, but we learned when we got to it that all diocesan sites were closed due to weather advisory. Ravenna and some other parts of Emilia-Romagna have had some disastrous flooding going on recently.
We saw the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi. Beautiful, noticeably simple compared to the gold and glitz of most other churches we have seen thus far on this trip to Italy. There is a crypt beneath the main altar (not St. Francis’). The floor is green mosaic tiled from the fifth century A.D. The floor is covered with water (used to be flood water, but it has been cleaned since then). One can see little goldfish swimming freely in that water. I thought, how appropriate for the altar of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi!
The organist was practicing, and a talented vocalist, too—for a wedding that afternoon. As crowds gathered for the wedding in the piazza of the Basilica, we noted some police presence. The staff member in the Church said the wedding was of some celebrity, although he did not know the name. We waited for the bride and groom to arrive in a Mazzerati! We never did find out who the celebrity was.
It is important to note that this Church is also one that Dante Alighieri (as in, THE DIVINE COMEDY) attended while he lived in Ravenna. His funeral was celebrated in this Basilica in 1321. Dante‘s tomb is next to a Franciscan cloister nearby. There is a Dantesque zone in Ravenna that leads to his tomb, with a walk that is marked by wall plaques on which are written verses from different parts of the DIVINE COMEDY. Ravenna seems to be honoring Dante quite a bit.
San Marino: A separate republic in Italy, just as Vatican City, for example. The town of San Marino is the capital of the Republic of San Marino. Both are built on a mountain called Monte Titano. At the top of the mountain is the walled fortress that protected the Republic since the Middle Ages. There are three towers altogether among three different mountain peaks adjacent to each other. Winding/narrow roads to the top, tall, steep mountain slope, boutiques, restaurants, hotels, and locals’ residences are on the mountainside and all the way on top.
We watched the sunset from Mount Titano and ate dinner at a restaurant close to the top. I had passatelli (like dumpling-type short but tubular noodles) with ham, and Dad had a steak. We shared a “spit-roasted large potato with bacon.” This was, for us, not a good choice of places to dine because only my dish was a Romagnano specialty. San Marino specialty? Not sure….
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