Andante Travels

Introduction

In AD 402 the Roman Imperial court removed itself from Rome to Ravenna, and for a period it was the political centre of what remained of the Western Empire.

The astonishing flowering of decorative arts and architecture under Rome’s barbarian heirs may be viewed as the products of political turbulence and changing balances of power. The city’s numerous churches, palaces and mausolea, resplendent with shimmering mosaics expressing the majesty - and mystery - of God, are the result.

The journey begins in Aquileia, an important Roman site with unexpectedly impressive mosaics. These provide a perfect introduction to the more famous, later examples from Ravenna.

The lagoon landscapes of the northern Po Valley make a striking back-drop for our exploration of the towns and religious sites of Monastero, Concordia Sagittaria and Grado, which previous guests have very much enjoyed as our base - close to the harbour.

It is Ravenna, however, which is the climax. The world-famous mosaics here never fail to achieve the awe-inspiring impact which their patrons, designers and makers intended.

This is a tour which succeeds in portraying a satisfyingly complete picture of the transition from the Roman to early Medieval periods, all played out against the lagoons and marshes of the broad Po Valley, at the head of the Adriatic.

Itinerary

Day One
Fly to Venice and drive to our hotel in Grado

Day Two
Founded by the Romans in 180BC on a narrow strip of land between the mountain and the lagoons, Aquileia lay on an important route between eastern and western Empires, and thrived in the Byzantine period. We explore the various phases of the Cathedral and its mosaics and earlier Palaeo-christian mosaics under campanile. Walk by the buildings along the port to the excavated 6th century church of Monastero, with attached museum. Roman cemetery (time permitting).

Day Three
Cividale, a small town in the foothills of the Alps, with an 8th century Lombardic oratory with wonderful stucco work, and the National Archaeological Museum with unparalleled Migration period and Lombardic collections. We walk through the beautifully preserved historic centre to the newly displayed Christian Museum with its Lombardic Christian sculpture.
Grado, a historic walled town with lagoon scenery. We visit the 6th century basilica/ Cathedral with good mosaics, a lapidarium and Roman sarcophagi; the Church of Sta Eufemia, and the atmospheric Palaeo-Christian Sta Maria delle Grazie.

Day Four
Concordia Sagittaria, founded as a Roman colony in 42BC, and with an important Palaeo-Christian basilica discovered and laid out below the floor of the present cathedral. The houses here line the canal, in an attractive way which is reminiscent of Venice. Continue across the Po Valley to visit the Abbey of Pomposa, founded in the 7th century in marshes and lagoons, with an arm of the River Po running on each side; it has a fine 12th century mosaic floor and frescoes. On to Ravenna and visit the impressive Mausoleum of King Theoderic .

Day Five
After three centuries as the political centre of the western Empire, Ravenna returned to being a backwater, but the legacy was a remarkable collection of churches and other monuments representing an astonishing flowering of the decorative arts and architecture. Today we see the Arian Cathedral of Santo Spirito, Baptisteries of both the Orthodox and Arian bishops; the Cathedral; the Bishop’s Palace, now a museum, with internationally important early Christian artefacts; the churches of S Francesco and of San GiovanniEvangelista , with 13th century floor mosaics, the latter built by Gallia Placida to give thanks for her safe delivery from near shipwreck.

Day Six
Morning in Ravenna. We visit the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, sister of the Emperor Honorius, she was an important figure in the history of Ravenna. Captured by Alaric the Visigoth, she was given in marriage to his brother-in-law, Athaulf. After his death she remarried Constans, who was made the co-Emperor in AD421.

The Church of San Vitale is filled with glorious mosaics, the largest and best-preserved collection outside Constantinople. The journey to Ravenna would be worthwhile if only to see these. Those decorating the apse reveal the pomp and majesty of the Byzantine court, and are particularly interesting because we know so much about the people represented. Above right is Empress Theodora, tense and dignified, of whose past so much scandal is related, with a retinue of court ladies, one of whom is surely Belisarius’ wife. The church has an octagonal plan, and combines Roman and Byzantine elements.
Afternoon visit to Classe. Because the topography of the area has changed so much, with the land gaining on the sea, it is difficult now to remember that Classe is originally the biggest naval base of the Adriatic, home to a permanent fleet of 250 ships. The docks of the massive port now lie more than 3m below the ground surface.

The Church of S. Apollinare in Classe. There are more glorious mosaics here, including that in the apse showing St Apollinare with the faithful, depicted as sheep.

Day Seven
Ravenna: Church of S. Apollinare Nuovo started by Theoderic the Ostrogoth with famous mosaic “processions”; the church was rededicated to St Apollinare when his relics were moved there during the 9th century.
We also visit the Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra, an underground Roman house; the Palace of the Ostrogothic King Theoderic; National Archaeological Museum.

Day Eight
Depart from Bologna.

Included

WHAT’S INCLUDED

• Flights Scheduled flights from London/Venice; Bologna/London.
• Transfers private coach provided to coincide with group flights
• Local Travel Private a/c coach.
• Meals All meals included (dinners with wine & water)   
• Guide Lecturer (also local guides where these are compulsory)  Not to be confused with "guest lecturers"!  The guide lecturer will be with you from breakfast to supper, and probably even a drink in the bar afterwards.  There is the occasional site where they may not be allowed to guide because of local regulations (we normally manage to circumnavigate these) but otherwise the guides are just that. They will have been chosen because of specialist knowledge and their ability to communicate and interest you.  After 22 years of making tours worldwide, we are highly appreciative of the attributes of a good guide, and intensely critical of people who do not possess them.  If you would like to know more about Professor Tony King, please click his name.
• Tour Manager We never know how best to call the very special people whom we choose to accompany you on your tour.  They are usually employed in this capacity only by us, and have been trained to do things in the Andante way - unobtrusive, friendly and quietly efficient.
• Fieldnotes written for the tour
• Entry & tips Entry to all sites in programme, tips included.

Flights & Visa

Airline: BA

BA2584  London Gatwick / Venice       12:50/16:00
BA2561  Bologna / London Gatwick     10:30/13:40
Please note these flights are an indication of what the flights are likely to be. Please contact the office for exact details

Visa and Passport Requirements (for British passport holders only)*

Note: Passport must be valid for the duration of your stay.

No visa is required

Hotels

3 nights in a simple but most enjoyable hotel in the centre of Grado
4 nights in a hotel in old Ravenna.

Comments

What Did You Enjoy Most About This Tour?

"In a tour so packed with wonderful things it is impossible to nominate a highlight: Ravenna in particular more than justified its reputation. The whole experience was like Christmas, each place like a present viewed with anticipation, then unwrapped to reveal the marvels within.

For me, this tour was probably the best so far. Oliver gave us a phenomenal amount of information in the clearest possible way ad with great humour. Rosetta, as ever, was always present when needed and yet managed to get us organised without appearing to do so. As a whole, the group seemed very interested in all the features and in discussion and were always anxious to learn more

I loved seeing the mosaics in Ravenna and the magnificent floor in the Aquileia Basilica, and greatly appreciated the interesting, informed commentaries on what we were seeing. In 1966 I travelled by bus from Venice to Florence and there was a brief, tantalising 30 minutes ‘comfort' stop in Ravenna. I vowed to return and spend longer there and have only just made it!"

Reading List

This list is no more than a guide to some books that you may find useful to read in advance of the tour. Talks given on the tour will attempt to fill in the background to what we are seeing, so no prior knowledge or pre-tour cramming is expected or needed. In many cases, we expect that you will find some of these books even more interesting and useful to read once the tour is over.

A little explanation about the length and nature of this list: because we shall be looking at the fascinating period of overlap between the late Roman ("Late Antique") and early Mediaeval worlds, and at the point where many scholars start to employ the term "Byzantine" instead of "Early (or Palaeo-) Christian" to describe the art and architecture, it's hard to recommend any one book that really covers the chronological or geographical span of our tour. Most recent publications on this area consist of collections of essays rather than an overview. In this list, then, I'll generally be suggesting that the earlier or later chapters of a book are relevant.

Good guide books to Ravenna itself are available in Italy.

Historical background

E. Gibbon The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire The classic & literary account.

A. Cameron The Later Roman Empire AD 284-439 (paperback, reissued by Harvard University Press 2005, but still available in Fontana 1993 edition) Provides probably the most comprehensive narrative about the period of the breakdown of the western empire.

T. Potter  Roman Italy (British Museum, 1987)

Chap. 1,  The Land

Chap. 9,  Later Roman Italy and the rise of Christianity

Chap.10,  Aftermath: from Roman to Mediaeval

C. Wickham  Early Mediaeval Italy (Macmillan 1981)

Chap. 1  The Roman legacy

Chap. 2,  The kingdom of Italy 568-875

A. Cameron The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity AD 395 - 600

The emphasis is on the eastern Mediterranean, but 2 chapters are relevant to us:

Chap. 2,  The empire, the barbarians and the late Roman economy

Chap. 3,  Church and Society

J. J. Norwich  Byzantium: the Early Centuries (Penguin paperback 1990) looks at events from the point of view of the other end of the Roman empire.

J.J.Norwich  Venice: The Rise to Empire (Penguin 1983)

A fascinating and readable account of the rise of a totally new power in Italy - one which had a major influence on the later history of the towns of the Adriatic littoral such as Grado.

OR

P. Mentzel A Traveller's History of Venice (Chastleton Travel, 2006)

A much more concise account.

The Migration period and the "barbarian" kingdoms

P. Heather  The Goths (Blackwell 1998)

Part III The kingdom of the Goths (Ostrogothic Italy)

N. Christie The Lombards (Blackwell 1998)

You may want to skip some of the historical material about the origins of the Lombards (or Longobards as they are currently known), but Christie also uses archaeological evidence such as gravegoods, of which we shall se a good sample in Cividale museum)

Or for something briefer, two older publications that you may be able to find:

J. Wallace-Hadrill   The Barbarian West, 400-1000 (Hutchinson University Library, reprinted 1979)

Chap. 1  Introductory (the late Roman world)

Chap. 2,  The barbarian attack and settlements

Chap. 3,  Italy and the Lombards

P. Dixon  Barbarian Europe (Phaidon 1976)  perhaps the most accessible - well illustrated

Chap. 1,  Romans and barbarians - a good account of the wars of the 4^th and 5^th centuries, with maps

Chap. 4, The successor kingdoms - continues this history in the 5^th and 6^th centuries.

Historical maps

If you like maps, you can "read" the history of the times from these fascinating maps, demonstrating the changing political face of Europe

C. Mc Evedy  New Penguin Atlas of Mediaeval History (Penguin, reprinted 1988)

Covers the period 362-1483     GL CHOICE

OR

D. Hupchick and H. Cox  Concise Historical Atlas of Europe (Macmillan 1996)

Covers the period from the later 3^rd century to 1991.

OR

A. Jotischky and C. Hull The Penguin Atlas of the Mediaeval World (Penguin 2005)

Part I, The barbarian kingdoms, the conversion, the Carolingian world

Art, archaeology and architecture

R. Reece The Later Roman Empire: An Archaeology AD 150-600 (Tempus 1999) Some reference to Ravenna in Chaps. 3 (Painting and mosaics) and 5 (Churches).

L.Rodley  Byzantine Art and Architecture (CUP 1994)

The early chapters may be useful

If you can find a copy,

R. Milburn  Early Christian Art and Architecture (Scolar 1988)

Gives a more readable account, especially Chap. 6 (Church buildings), Chap. 10 (Ravenna), and Chap. 11 (Justinian).

Guidebooks

Paul Blanchard,  Blue Guide,  Northern Italy (2005) has sections on Cividale, Aquileia and Grado, as well as Ravenna. The new Blue Guide format may not have quite as much information, but is accompanied by good colour maps of the region, as well as town plans.

Travel books
We recommend to you a publishing company with a mission to keep the classic works of travel literature in print. Eland and Sickle Moon Books produce an excellent catalogue of travellers' literature, old and new.

0207 833 0762   www.travelbooks.co.uk This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Archaeology books
Oxbow Books, based in Oxford, are suppliers of probably the biggest range of archaeology and history books. They produce a quarterly catalogue, and can be contacted on

01865 241 249   www.oxbowbooks.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Booking