Free Walking Tour Ravenna: Mosaics, Goths and Dante

From a Gothic king's tomb past the mosaics of San Vitale to Dante's grave: nine stops and 4.4 km through the late antique heart of Ravenna.

9 Stops 4.4 km ~1 h walking
Start free in your browser See all stops
Route map for the Ravenna walking tour
Stop 1 of 9
1490 m·19 min
Mausoleo di Teodorico
Head south-west toward the Basilica di San Vitale
Ciao, welcome to Ravenna. I'm Alex, and this city still keeps a small yearly ritual for the poet who died here in exile.
Try this tour with Alex
Try this tour with Alex
Start free in your browser See all stops

Ravenna's mosaic walk at a glance

Nine stops on 4.4 km, from the Mausoleo di Teodorico to the Battistero degli Ariani: 1 h of pure walking, about four hours with the interiors worth seeing. One combined ticket covers four mosaic sites, a larger version adds the Museo Arcivescovile.

Piazza del Popolo and the Tomba di Dante are free; the Gothic tomb and the Arian baptistery each have their own ticket. Route, map and GPS navigation in your browser are free; the AI Tour Guide is optional.

Open free GPS & optional AI Tour Guide
View of Ravenna

The Route

Walking map of Ravenna: nine stops from Theodoric to the Arians

9 stops 4.4 km 1 h walking
Tap to load interactive map
Open the full route with live navigation

The 9 stops along this route

  1. Mausoleo di Teodorico in Ravenna, stop 1 on the self-guided walking tour
    1Mausoleo di Teodorico
  2. Basilica di San Vitale in Ravenna, stop 2 on the self-guided walking tour
    2Basilica di San Vitale
  3. Mausoleo di Galla Placidia in Ravenna, stop 3 on the self-guided walking tour
    3Mausoleo di Galla Placidia
  4. Museo Arcivescovile in Ravenna, stop 4 on the self-guided walking tour
    4Museo Arcivescovile
  5. Battistero Neoniano in Ravenna, stop 5 on the self-guided walking tour
    5Battistero Neoniano
  6. Piazza del Popolo in Ravenna, stop 6 on the self-guided walking tour
    6Piazza del Popolo
  7. Tomba di Dante in Ravenna, stop 7 on the self-guided walking tour
    7Tomba di Dante
  8. Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, stop 8 on the self-guided walking tour
    8Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo
  9. Battistero degli Ariani in Ravenna, stop 9 on the self-guided walking tour
    9Battistero degli Ariani
  10. That's the full route.

    Walk it with an AI Tour Guide talking you through every one of these streets.

    Start free in your browser
    You made it

Your Ravenna walking tour, from Gothic tomb to Arian baptistery

  1. 1

    Mausoleo di Teodorico

    Mausoleo di Teodorico in Ravenna, stop 1 on the self-guided walking tour

    Start at the tomb of a Gothic king. Theodoric the Great, ruler of the Ostrogoths, kept his court in Ravenna, and around 520 he had this mausoleum built in the cemetery of the Gothic suburb, probably for himself and the closest members of his court. It is regarded as the outstanding building achievement of the Ostrogoths in Italy, and yet the name of its architect has not come down to us.

    A Latin chronicle, the Anonymus Valesianus, says the king raised the monument in his own lifetime from blocks of hewn stone and had a huge single stone sought out to finish it. Even so, the tomb was evidently not complete when he died.

    Theodoric was an Arian Christian, and that sealed the fate of his grave. When Byzantine troops under Belisarius took Ravenna in 540, the Catholic clergy gained the upper hand and wiped out traces of Theodoric and Arianism wherever they could. His sarcophagus was thrown out as that of a cursed heretic. Floods later left the lower chamber half buried for a long time; it was only fully cleared in 1918 and 1919, and the digs around it turned up ancient walls and a gold-decorated breastplate.

    The mausoleum has its own ticket, separate from the combined ticket for the mosaic sites. Go in if the Goths fascinate you; if mosaics are your priority, the outside and the story are enough. From here comes the longest leg of the walk, 1470 m and about 20 minutes, to the Basilica di San Vitale, a church begun while Theodoric's Goths still ruled the city.

    Hours
    Daily 08:30–17:30 (last entry 30 minutes before closing); closed 25 December and 1 January
    Price
    6 EUR; reduced 5 EUR; ages 18–25 2 EUR
  2. 2

    Basilica di San Vitale

    Basilica di San Vitale in Ravenna, stop 2 on the self-guided walking tour

    San Vitale was begun in 526 on the orders of Bishop Ecclesius, while Ravenna was still under the Ostrogoths, and completed in 547 by Bishop Maximian, after Justinian I had conquered Italy. So this church spans the change of power you just heard about at Theodoric's tomb. Its founding inscription calls it a basilica, but look at the plan: the main building is an octagon, a central design quite unlike the usual long basilica.

    The money came from Julius Argentarius, a local banker and architect of whom very little is known. He also funded the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe at about the same time, and he may be one of the courtiers in the Justinian mosaic, a donor portrait among the emperor's men. The bill came to 26,000 solidi, or 16.38 kg of gold. One theory is that Julius came from the eastern empire, where wealthy citizens had a long tradition of paying for public works.

    Read the building as a meeting of two worlds. The dome and the shape of the doorways are Roman; the polygonal apse, the capitals, the narrow bricks and an early example of flying buttresses are Byzantine. The central vault is made of hollow terracotta tubes slotted into each other instead of bricks, the first recorded structural use of terracotta forms. The Baroque frescoes in the dome are far later, painted between 1778 and 1782 by Serafino Barozzi, Ubaldo Gandolfi and Jacopo Guarana.

    Go inside, whoever you are: the mosaics here are among the most studied works of Byzantine art, and San Vitale is part of the combined ticket. Give it the longest stay of the day. The next stop is only 60 m away, a one-minute walk.

    Hours
    8 March – 2 Nov 2026: 9:00–19:00 (last admission 18:30); 3 Nov 2026 – 6 March 2027: 10:00–17:00 (last admission 16:30)
    Price
    14.50 EUR combined admission to five monuments: Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, San Vitale, Galla Placidia, Battistero Neoniano, Museo Arcivescovile and Cappella di Sant'Andrea.
  3. 3

    Mausoleo di Galla Placidia

    Mausoleo di Galla Placidia in Ravenna, stop 3 on the self-guided walking tour

    The building a minute from San Vitale is older than the church you just left: it dates from the first half of the 5th century, between about 425 and 430. Its name ties it to Empress Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius, who ruled the Western Roman Empire as regent for her son Valentinian III. Tradition says she built it as a tomb for herself, her husband Constantius III and her brother Honorius.

    That tradition rests on oral lore recorded by the chronicler Agnellus of Ravenna, not on documents, and scholars are sure neither that it was a tomb nor that she commissioned it. She almost certainly never lay here: she died in Rome in 450 and was buried there. The building may have been a chapel of the church of Santa Croce, once joined to it by a porch that was demolished in 1602; little of that church survives. Later it was certainly an oratory dedicated to Saint Lawrence and Saints Nazarius and Celsus.

    Then there is the legend, a very unlikely one. Galla's embalmed body was supposedly brought back to Ravenna and placed in a sarcophagus here, visible through a slit for more than a thousand years, until in 1577 a careless visitor held his candle too close for a better look and set the empress's robes on fire.

    The mausoleum is on the combined ticket and the visit is short, so take it. Next comes the second longest leg, 950 m and about 13 minutes, to the Museo Arcivescovile; on the way you pass the Museo Nazionale di Ravenna.

    Hours
    8 March – 2 Nov 2026: 9:00–19:00 (last admission 18:45); 3 Nov 2026 – 6 March 2027: 10:00–17:00 (last admission 16:45)
    Price
    14.50 EUR combined admission to five monuments: Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, San Vitale, Galla Placidia, Battistero Neoniano, Museo Arcivescovile and Cappella di Sant'Andrea.
  4. 4

    Museo Arcivescovile

    Museo Arcivescovile in Ravenna, stop 4 on the self-guided walking tour

    The archbishops' museum sits next to the Battistero Neoniano and behind Ravenna's cathedral, and it keeps relics of early Christian Ravenna: fragments of mosaic from the first cathedral church and the chapel of Sant'Andrea, which dates from the Gothic kingdom. This is the stop for people who like reading stones.

    In the main room, look for the inscription of Seda the Eunuch, bedchamberlain to Theodoric the Great, buried in 541; the Gothic king's household turns up again. Beneath it, by the window, stands a reliquary for the martyrs Quiricus and Julietta, whose remains travelled from Tarsus, birthplace of Saint Paul, to Auxerre and on to Ravenna. Galla Placidia placed it in the church of San Giovanni Battista. Its four sides show Christ giving the Law to Peter with Paul beside him, Daniel among the lions with Habakkuk bringing bread and fish, the Three Kings with their gifts, and the women at the empty tomb.

    On the opposite wall, a marble rosette is a 6th-century Easter calendar. Its job was to fix Easter on the same day across Christendom, no easy task when the Eastern Church reckoned by the moon and the Western Church by the sun. This one follows the eastern lunar cycle of 19 years and gives the Easter dates from 532 to 626 AD. The apse mosaic fragments, by the way, are not Roman originals but early 12th-century work.

    The museum is only included in the larger, five-site combined ticket. Worth it if you enjoy inscriptions and small details; if time is short, skip it. From the museum it is 390 m, about 5 minutes, to the Battistero Neoniano.

    Hours
    8 March – 2 Nov 2026: 9:00–19:00 (last admission 18:30); 3 Nov 2026 – 6 March 2027: 10:00–17:00 (last admission 16:30)
    Price
    14.50 EUR combined admission to five monuments: Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, San Vitale, Galla Placidia, Battistero Neoniano, Museo Arcivescovile and Cappella di Sant'Andrea.
  5. 5

    Battistero Neoniano

    Battistero Neoniano in Ravenna, stop 5 on the self-guided walking tour

    Work on this baptistery began in the late 4th or early 5th century, when Bishop Ursus started building Ravenna's cathedral, which makes it the oldest surviving building in the city by start date. It is an octagonal brick building with low apses that give it a square footprint, under a flat eight-sided roof. From outside you cannot see the dome: inside rises an almost semicircular dome built of clay tubes, the same idea you met at San Vitale.

    The rich interior, with marble inlay, stucco reliefs and mosaics, comes mostly from Bishop Neon, who gave the building its name, in the second half of the 5th century, between 450 and 473. The chronicler Agnellus described his remodelling in the 9th century, long after the fact. Like other early baptisteries, the design follows the Constantinian baptistery at the Lateran in Rome, and the decoration is linked to work commissioned there by Popes Sixtus III and Hilarus. Baptism carried great theological weight in this period, and it called for architecture to match.

    Keep one thing in mind as you look at the dome: the floor originally lay about three metres lower, so the proportions of the room and the effect of the mosaics overhead were different from what you see today. In the middle stands an octagonal font from the 13th century.

    Entry is on the combined ticket and worth it for everyone, all the more if you plan to finish at the Battistero degli Ariani, which invites a direct comparison. Then it is 360 m, about 5 minutes, to Piazza del Popolo.

    Hours
    8 March – 2 Nov 2026: 9:00–19:00 (last admission 18:45); 3 Nov 2026 – 6 March 2027: 10:00–17:00 (last admission 16:45)
    Price
    14.50 EUR combined admission to five monuments: Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, San Vitale, Galla Placidia, Battistero Neoniano, Museo Arcivescovile and Cappella di Sant'Andrea.
  6. 6

    Piazza del Popolo

    Piazza del Popolo in Ravenna, stop 6 on the self-guided walking tour

    Piazza del Popolo is Ravenna's main square, and it costs nothing to stand in. It goes back to the late 13th century, when the Da Polenta family became masters of the city. Bernardino da Polenta built his residence on the remains of an older palace on the bank of the Padenna, the town's river, and the square was created by widening the street in front of it.

    In the second half of the 14th century the Palazzo del Rettore went up on the south side. The Venetians, who took Ravenna in 1441, moved the town hall in 1444 into a new building, the palazzetto veneziano. Look at its arcades: the granite columns carry carved 6th-century capitals, salvaged when the church of Sant'Andrea dei Goti was pulled down.

    In 1483 the Venetians paved the square and raised two columns, topped by the Lion of Saint Mark and a statue of Sant'Apollinare; the sculptor Pietro Lombardo made the bases. Venetian rule ended in 1509, Ravenna returned to the Papal States, and in the 1530s the people of Ravenna pulled down the Lion. That column stood bare for about a century, until a generous donation from the monastery of San Vitale led the council to crown it with a statue of that saint, set up in 1644.

    From here, 300 m and about 4 minutes take you to the Tomba di Dante.

    Hours
    Open 24/7
    Price
    Free
  7. 7

    Tomba di Dante

    Tomba di Dante in Ravenna, stop 7 on the self-guided walking tour

    Dante Alighieri spent his last years in exile in Ravenna and died here in 1321. The day after his death his funeral was held in the cloister of the Franciscan monastery, today the Basilica di San Francesco, and he was buried by the roadside outside the cloister in an ancient Roman sarcophagus, the one he still rests in. The neoclassical monument over it was built in 1781. Visiting is free; the area around it is a zona dantesca, where you are asked to stay quiet and respectful.

    Look at the lid: it carries a Latin epitaph written by Bernardo Canaccio in 1366. Its last lines have Dante call himself an exile from his native shores, born of Florence, a mother of little love.

    Florence did want him back, though. At the end of the 15th century the Venetian podestà Bernardo Bembo had the sarcophagus moved to the west side of the cloister; a few years later Florence began asking for the remains, backed by the two Medici popes Leo X and Clement VII. Michelangelo supported the first request, and in 1519 Leo granted permission. But the Franciscans had time to make a hole in the wall and secretly take the bones. When the Tuscan delegation arrived, the sarcophagus was empty.

    The bones stayed hidden. In 1677 the prior Antonio Santi put them in a new box, and in 1692 the sarcophagus was restored under armed guard. The little garden to the right is named after the Quadrarco di Braccioforte, where two people once called on the 'strong arm' of Christ to guarantee a contract and had that arm painted on the arch. Then walk 490 m, about 7 minutes, to the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo; on the way you pass Koko Mosaico.

    Hours
    1 Nov-31 March: daily 10:00–18:00; 1 Apr-31 Oct: daily 10:00–19:00; 1 Jan: 13:00–18:00; closed 25 Dec.
    Price
    Free
  8. 8

    Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo

    Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, stop 8 on the self-guided walking tour

    Theodoric again: he built this church in the first quarter of the 6th century as his palace chapel, and in 504 it was dedicated, as an Arian church, to Christ the Redeemer. The façade with its portico is from the 16th century, the tower beside it from the 10th.

    After Justinian's victory the church was reconsecrated in 561 as Sanctus Martinus in Coelo Aureo, Saint Martin in Golden Heaven, after Saint Martin of Tours, a foe of Arianism. Mosaics with openly Arian themes or praising the king were destroyed. Look closely: on some of the columns you can still make out hands and arms, all that is left of figures of praying Goths and Theodoric's court that were removed in Byzantine times. Legend adds that Pope Gregory the Great ordered the mosaics blackened because their gold distracted worshippers from prayer.

    The name changed once more in 856, when the relics of Saint Apollinaris were brought here from Sant'Apollinare in Classe, out of reach of pirates raiding from the Adriatic. What survives are the mosaics of the side walls, 24 columns with simplified Corinthian capitals and an ambo. In the upper band, 13 small scenes on the left wall show Jesus's miracles and parables, 13 on the right the Passion and Resurrection, without the flagellation and the crucifixion. They match the Bible passages read aloud here during Lent under Theodoric.

    Bear in mind that Felice Kibel restored and altered the mosaics in the mid-19th century, and that the apse is a reconstruction after damage in World War II. It is on the combined ticket, and a must for anyone on this walk. The last leg is 400 m, about 5 minutes, to the Battistero degli Ariani.

    Hours
    8 March – 2 Nov 2026: 9:00–19:00 (last admission 18:30); 3 Nov 2026 – 6 March 2027: 10:00–17:00 (last admission 16:30)
    Price
    14.50 EUR combined admission to five monuments: Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, San Vitale, Galla Placidia, Battistero Neoniano, Museo Arcivescovile and Cappella di Sant'Andrea.
  9. 9

    Battistero degli Ariani

    Battistero degli Ariani in Ravenna, stop 9 on the self-guided walking tour

    Theodoric built this baptistery between the end of the 5th and the start of the 6th century, at the same time as Sant'Apollinare Nuovo. Arian Christianity needed its own places of worship, separate from those of the Chalcedonian Christians. Theodoric did not drive the Chalcedonian community out of Ravenna; instead he commissioned an Arian cathedral and this baptistery for his own faith.

    The man behind it had an unusual path. Born into Arian Christianity, he spent his formative years as a hostage in Constantinople, educated in imperial customs and court life. Back among the Goths, his political cunning and military feats earned him respect, and a treaty with Emperor Zeno gave the Goths Ravenna to rule in the emperor's name.

    The building is a brick octagon. Its interior was once covered in mosaics; today only the dome mosaic remains, showing the baptism of Jesus. Having just seen the Battistero Neoniano, you will notice the family likeness in structure and composition: two baptisteries, one Catholic and one Arian, in the same city. After Arianism was condemned, this one was converted for Chalcedonian use.

    The baptistery has its own ticket, not part of the combined one, and a short look inside rounds off the Gothic thread of the walk. This is where the route ends; if you want to return to the Mausoleo di Teodorico, the GPS navigation in your browser leads you there.

    Price
    3 EUR (since 1 April); free on the first Sunday of the month and on 23 July, 30 August, 17 October and 4 November
Walking tour route map of Ravenna Route loaded
Mausoleo di TeodoricoBasilica di San VitaleMausoleo di Galla PlacidiaMuseo Arcivescovile+5
All 9 stops are already on the map.
You just press start.
AI Tour Guide

You know the route now. Walk it with a guide in your ear.

Press start wherever you are, even hundreds of kilometres from Ravenna, and the guide begins telling its stories right away. In the city, pick any of the 9 stops to start from: it leads you there, then talks with you the whole route, asking, listening, remembering, and shaping the tour around your answers.

9stops 4.4km 1 hwalking 13languages
▶Start the tour free

Free to start · Runs in your browser · No app, no download

Shorter ways through Ravenna's mosaics

The full walk links Gothic Ravenna with Byzantine Ravenna. If your time or interest is narrower, these versions work well.

Mosaics on one ticket

Stops: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8

For a half day centred on mosaics. Start at the Basilica di San Vitale and finish at the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, walking past the Museo Arcivescovile without going in. About 35 minutes of walking; the smaller combined ticket covers all four ticketed interiors, and Piazza del Popolo and the Tomba di Dante are free.

Everything except the long first leg

Stops: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

For those who want the whole story of the centre without the 20-minute walk from Theodoric's tomb. About 40 minutes of walking; take the five-site combined ticket for the museum and add the separate ticket for the Battistero degli Ariani.

The full route with the Goths

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

For anyone drawn to Theodoric and his age: 1 h of walking, the five-site combined ticket, plus separate tickets for the Mausoleo di Teodorico and the Battistero degli Ariani.

How long does this Ravenna tour take with the mosaics?

The 4.4 km take 1 h of pure walking. Only the first leg, from the Mausoleo di Teodorico to the Basilica di San Vitale, is long at 20 minutes; after that no leg takes more than 13 minutes, and most take about five.

With the interiors that are worth it, plan on about four hours for the full route, with your longest stay at San Vitale. Starting at San Vitale and skipping the Gothic tomb takes about three and a half hours. The mosaic half day on the smaller combined ticket takes a little under three hours.

Before you set off in Ravenna

  • Start: The Mausoleo di Teodorico is the recommended start, but you can join at any stop; the Basilica di San Vitale works well if you want to skip the longest leg.
  • Finish: At the Battistero degli Ariani. The GPS navigation in your browser can lead you from there back to the start.
  • Time of day: Set off in the morning so all the ticketed interiors fit comfortably into your day. Their opening hours change with the season, so check them before you go.
  • Tickets: One combined ticket covers San Vitale, Galla Placidia, the Battistero Neoniano and Sant'Apollinare Nuovo; a larger version adds the Museo Arcivescovile. The Mausoleo di Teodorico and the Battistero degli Ariani each charge their own entry. Piazza del Popolo and the Tomba di Dante are free.
Walking tour route map of Ravenna
AI Tour Guide

Your guide is ready when you are, at Theodoric's tomb or any other stop

Press start and a voice AI Tour Guide takes it from here: leading the route through Ravenna, telling the stories, and turning your walk into a real back-and-forth conversation. No app or download is needed; it runs in your browser.

9stops 4.4km 1 hwalking 13languages
▶Start the tour free

Free to start · Runs in your browser · No app, no download

What the AI Tour Guide adds in Ravenna

On this walk the stories hang together: a Gothic king who built his tomb, his palace church and an Arian baptistery, the Byzantines who erased him, the bishops who filled the city with mosaics. The AI Tour Guide follows that thread as a conversation: it greets you, tells the stories of each place, asks what draws you in and remembers it, so it can go deeper into what the Arians believed or how mosaics like those in San Vitale were made. You can interrupt at any time. Route, map and GPS navigation stay free; you start with 100 free credits, then choose this tour all-inclusive for €19.99 with no time limit, or €5 per hour.

A Real Conversation A voice AI Tour Guide greets you, leads the whole route, and tells the stories and facts as you walk, asking what you want to see and keeping a real conversation going. Not a recording you press play on.
Map Navigation Follow the route on the map and walk at your own pace. You choose where to start and when to move to the next stop.
Ask Anything Curious about a building you pass? Ask your AI Tour Guide on the spot and the conversation carries on.
13 Languages Switch language anytime. No separate tour needed.
Start free in your browser

Common questions about Ravenna's monuments

Is Sant'Apollinare in Classe part of this walk?

No. It comes up twice along the way, as the other church funded by Julius Argentarius and as the place the relics of Saint Apollinaris were brought from, but it is not one of the nine stops.

Which of these sites are UNESCO World Heritage?

San Vitale is one of eight structures in Ravenna on the UNESCO list. On this walk the Mausoleo di Galla Placidia, listed since 1991 as part of the early Christian monuments of Ravenna, the Battistero Neoniano and the Battistero degli Ariani belong to it as well.

Where can I walk next after Ravenna?

Nearby cities have their own free routes: Rimini is 49 km away, Ferrara 65 km and Bologna 68 km.

Is the tour really free?

Yes. The whole tour is free: the route, the interactive map and the navigation cost you nothing. Only the voice AI Tour Guide is optional and paid: you test it with 100 free credits, then you pay either €5 per hour or €19.99 for this whole tour, with no time limit. Admission to 7 of the 9 stops is not included: Mausoleo di Teodorico, Basilica di San Vitale, Mausoleo di Galla Placidia, Museo Arcivescovile, Battistero Neoniano, Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo and Battistero degli Ariani charge their own entry fees.

Do I need to download an app?

No. Everything runs in your phone browser. Open the route and start walking, no download and no sign-up required.

Do I need to book the walking tour in advance?

No booking needed. This self-guided tour is available anytime. Open the route in your browser and start walking. The AI Tour Guide works instantly, no app, no reservation required.

What languages is the AI Tour Guide available in?

The AI Tour Guide speaks 13 languages, so you take the tour in your own language and can switch at any time.

Can I skip stops or change the route?

Yes. Skip any stop, spend extra time at places you like, or start the route from any point. It is your walk, you set the pace.
Image credits
▶ Start free in your browser Runs in your browser, no app, no download