Ravenna

Ravenna
Comune
Collage of Ravenna
Coat of arms
Ravenna Location of Ravenna in Italy
Coordinates: 44°25′N 12°12′E / 44.417°N 12.200°E / 44.417; 12.200
Country	Italy
Region	Emilia-Romagna
Province / Metropolitan city	Ravenna (RA)
Frazioni	Casalborsetti, Lido di Savio, Lido di Classe, Lido di Dante, Lido Adriano, Marina di Ravenna, Punta Marina Terme, Porto Corsini, Porto Fuori, Marina Romea, Ammonite, Camerlona, Mandriole, Savarna, Grattacoppa, Conventello, Torri, Mezzano, Sant'Antonio, San Romualdo, Sant'Alberto, Borgo Montone, Fornace Zarattini, Piangipane, San Marco, San Michele, Santerno, Villanova di Ravenna, Borgo Sisa, Bastia, Borgo Faina, Carraie, Campiano, Casemurate, Caserma, Castiglione di Ravenna, Classe, Coccolia, Ducenta, Durazzano, Filetto, Fosso Ghiaia, Gambellara, Ghibullo, Longana, Madonna dell'Albero, Massa Castello, Mensa Matellica, Osteria, Pilastro, Roncalceci, Ragone, Santo Stefano, San Bartolo, San Zaccaria, Savio, S. Pietro in Trento, San Pietro in Vincoli, San Pietro in Campiano
Government
• Mayor	Michele De Pascale
Area
• Total	652.89 km2 (252.08 sq mi)
Elevation	4 m (13 ft)
Population (1 January 2014)
• Total	158,784
• Density	240/km2 (630/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Ravennate, Ravennese
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	48100
Dialing code	0544
Patron saint	Saint Apollinaris
Saint day	July 23
Website	Official website

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Mosaic of the Emperor Justinian from the Basilica of San Vitale.
Location	Italy
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, iv
Reference	788
UNESCO region	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1996 (20th Session)

Ravenna (Italian pronunciation: [raˈvenna], also locally [raˈvɛnna]; Romagnol: Ravêna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 402 until that empire collapsed in 476. It then served as the capital of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths until it was re-conquered in 540 by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Afterwards, the city formed the centre of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until the invasion of the Lombards in 751, after which it became the seat of the Kingdom of the Lombards.

Although an inland city, Ravenna is connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Candiano Canal. It is known for its well-preserved late Roman and Byzantine architecture, and has eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The origin of the name Ravenna is unclear, although it is believed the name is Etruscan. Some have speculated that "ravenna" is related to "Rasenna" (later "Rasna"), the term that the Etruscans used for themselves, but there is no agreement on this point.

The origins of Ravenna are uncertain. The first settlement is variously attributed to (and then has seen the co presence of) the Thessalians, the Etruscans and the Umbrians, afterwards its territory was settled also by the Senones, especially the southern countryside of the city (that wasn't part of the lagoon), the Ager Decimanus. Ravenna consisted of houses built on piles on a series of small islands in a marshy lagoon – a situation similar to Venice several centuries later. The Romans ignored it during their conquest of the Po River Delta, but later accepted it into the Roman Republic as a federated town in 89 BC. In 49 BC, it was the location where Julius Caesar gathered his forces before crossing the Rubicon. Later, after his battle against Mark Antony in 31 BC, Emperor Augustus founded the military harbor of Classe. This harbor, protected at first by its own walls, was an important station of the Roman Imperial Fleet. Nowadays the city is landlocked, but Ravenna remained an important seaport on the Adriatic until the early Middle Ages. During the German campaigns, Thusnelda, widow of Arminius, and Marbod, King of the Marcomanni, were confined at Ravenna.