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The most famous image of Ravenna is one of freeze-frame tranquility: a white, wooden structure, like that of a picture frame, encapsulates a sandy beach reaching outwards into infinity. Given the usual liveliness of these shores, the picture, captured by Luigi Ghirri, can feel a bit off-putting–and is even more haunting in the context of the devast...

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The NIAF Board of Directors Mission to Italy trip, which took place from June 11 – 21, 2023, was a resounding success. The trip began in Rome, where the board met with high-ranking officials of the Meloni government, members of the Italian parliament and attended a Gala dinner presented by We the Italians, in honor of NIAF, at the historic Circolo...

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I don’t know how common it is in US schools, but here in Italy, at least when I was a child in the 1980s, it was quite common to create colorful paper mosaics during art class: you’d buy these colored, shiny paper sheets, which you’d cut into tiny squares and glue onto drawings to color them. Admittedly, it was a messy job, with most children getti...

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A city moulded through layers of artistic styles and historical events. Quiet yet bustling, suspended amid the treasures of its UNESCO heritage, the summer nightlife of the seaside resorts nearby, the cumbersome Romagna tradition and the street art that has made it, once again, an art capital. A young, fun and contemporary destination, find out wha...

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Visiting Ravenna is not just a beautiful adventure in the present, it also serves as a reminder of the past. From the picturesque buildings with pretty, painted colors to the older churches with mosaics lining the interior. Despite the cloudy sky, Ravenna was still a sight to behold. I hope to return to Ravenna in the summer to see the beautiful co...

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Ravenna had emerged as the center of the Western world by the time Placidia arrived in 416. “Ravenna attracted the best artists and architects from around the empire,” noted Claudia Frassineti, a cultural heritage specialist and guide in the city. “It was the new capital city, the focus of wealth and power.” Emperor Honorius, Placidia’s half-brothe...

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This summer Italy has relaunched 'Dante's Train,' a special route tracing the journey of the Father of the Italian Language from Florence to Ravenna, every weekend until 1 November. The vintage train takes visitors from the Tuscan capital of Florence to Ravenna in the Emilia Romagna region where Dante fled in 1302 to avoid the prospect of being bur...

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Dante Alighieri is a symbol of Italy and its poetry, but also of the city he was born, Firenze. A proud Florentine, Dante never kept the love he had for his hometown a secret, so why is he buried in Ravenna? Well, because that’s where he passed, of course, but the matter of where his mortal remains should rest was the cause of mystery and diatribes...

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“Dante’s Train,” a rail route tracing the journey of the Supreme Poet from Florence to Ravenna during his exile years, is returning for the summer season. Launched last year to celebrate the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, the vintage steam train takes travelers from Florence, the Tuscan capital, where Dante was born, to Ravenna in Emilia-Romag...

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Life in late Byzantine Ravenna in its last 200 years, after Belisarius reconquest of Italy, lasted till 751 A. D. A governor/military commander ruled under the Byzantine emperor of Constantinople. The Greek language dominated. Byzantine Italy with its capital in Ravenna was not ruled by an incoming, ethnically distinct group. The church had more po...

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