KCR Spring 2025 Magazine - Flipbook - Page 62
Byron Museum, Ravenna, Italy
Ravenna, close to the north east coast of Italy and an hour from Bologna, is home to some of the most exquisite Byzantine art in the world.
The city’s golden age began in 402 AD when it became the capital of the
Western Roman Empire. Its strategic location near the Adriatic Sea and
its surrounding marshlands made it easily defensible. It later fell to the
Ostrogoth invasion before becoming a vital city in the Byzantine Empire.
He was also a great admirer of Dante Alighieri, whose 昀椀nal resting place
is in Ravenna. Just a few steps from the Basilica of San Francesco, the
tomb was built between 1780 and 1782 by Camillo Morigia. Inside is a
bass-relief by Pietro Lombardo dating back to 1483.There’s also a Dante
Museum inside the splendid
Franciscan cloisters.
If you like mosaics, then you’re in for a real treat as the city boasts eight
UNESCO World Heritage sites. They’re a mix of early Christian and
Byzantine churches, baptisteries and mausoleums, most of them exquisitely decorated. They represent an important period in the history of
European culture that made Ravenna the Italian capital of mosaic. You
can even make your own at workshops run by Koko Mosaico.
The Pine Forest of Classe, just outside the city, is where Byron took his
regular horse rides. It was also the inspiration for the depiction of Purgatory in Dante’s Divine Comedy. It’s hardly changed since those times
and today, visitors can explore the forest’s atmospheric trails on foot or
by bicycle.
Ravenna has also been the home of celebrated literary 昀椀gures. Dante
Alighieri, the author of The Divine Comedy, spent his 昀椀nal years here
and died in 1321. English romantic poet Lord George Gordon Byron
arrived in 1819, at the age of 31, during his self-imposed exile from England. There’s now a brand new museum in the Palazzo Guiccioli where
he lived during his short two year stay.
Nearby, located in the former sugar factory of Classe, the Classis Ravenna Museum relates the history of the city from its Etruscan-Umbrian
origins, through the Romans, the Ostrogoths, and the Byzantines up to
the Middle Ages. Impressive ceramics, pottery, weaponry and mosaics,
along with graphical and 3D reconstructions, tell the story of the evolution of the city and its territory.
The Byron Museum is a shrine to the poet’s life and works and his time
spent in Ravenna. Inside the beautifully restored Palazzo Guiccioli state
of the art technologies including interactive displays, audio guides and
videos, transport visitors back to the 19th century. They chronicle Byron’s life from his aristocratic beginnings in England to his time in Italy
and then his heroic death in Greece.
Ravenna is a small city, and most of the UNESCO sites are easily walkable, particularly since the centre is pedestrianised. It’s fun to wander
around the narrow alleys, exploring the many bars and restaurants.
Don’t miss the newly restored Mercato Coperto where you can buy and
sample many of the region’s gourmet delicacies.
Visitors are introduced to his early years, marked by privilege and
scandal, and his rise to fame, with works like Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
and Don Juan. It was his love a昀昀air with Teresa Guiccioli that brought
him to Ravenna but she was already married. Strangely, he shared the
Palazzo with the couple and Teresa’s most moving mementoes are on
display - romantic jewels, locks of hair, even a fragment of Byron’s skin.
Byron was more than just a poet; he was also a fervent supporter of liberty and justice. The museum delves into his involvement in the Italian
Risorgimento, the movement for uni昀椀cation and independence to his
last days 昀椀ghting for Greek independence. Recently discovered is a set of
frescoes painted on the walls of what was once his study,
Ravenna Turismo (www.turismo.ra.it/en/) has information about the
city.
Hotel Centrale Byron (www.hotelsravenna.it/byron/en-GB/) is in the
heart of the city.
The Ravenna Festival (www.ravennafestival.org) takes place every
June and July with over one hundred performances from more than a
thousand artists.
Image credit: Ravenna Museum / Emanuele Rambaldi
By Rupert Parker
